Deliverance
by Wildeve of the Heath
Summary: Ymir lives by herself. Left with a large sum of money, she whittles it away on drinks and spends her days shooting at nothing. At first glance she seems to be a lonely person but before Krista could pull away, the poor girl finds herself entrapped in Ymir's world. MODERN AU.
1. Chapter 1

I do not own Shingeki no Kyojin

Deliverance

Ymir lives by herself. Left with a large sum of money, she whittles it away on drinks and spends her days shooting at nothing. At first glance, she seems to just be a lonely person but before Krista could pull away, she finds herself entrapped in her world. MODERN AU.

* * *

There was a book she read in her youth.

Something about a guy returning to his homeland or whatever. He falls in love with this girl, and then meets some tragic end in their relationship.

How did the girl's prayer go again?

_'O send me a...'_ a what?

Whatever. It was from a while ago. No use in remembering quotes nowadays.

-...-

Ymir gilded by the strangers in the market with one hand carrying a glass jug of vodka while the other holding her phone. She received a missed call from a random number but the area code was from the mainland, oddly enough when she tried to answer it a minute ago the line went dead. She brought the bottle onto the counter and pocketed her phone so that she could pay for her drink.

The mother behind her had a child, she was giving Ymir a disapproving look but the brunette rolled her eyes, gave the cash, and took her jug back.

"Thanks for coming by," said the young, blonde man at the counter.

She breezed out of the market's double doors and was bathed in the warm light of the summer day. She crossed the parking lot, uncaring for the car that nearly struck her even as the driver slammed on its breaks to bring a strident screech to her ears.

Her truck was just another row passed the first one.

She strode to it and went into the driver's seat- her vodka sat in the passenger's seat. Just as she was about to close the door, she brought out her phone and looked down at the missed call. Five minutes passed. She decided to call the number back- impatiently she waited until the line of the other end picked up.

A soft, feminine voice answered,"Hello?"

"Yeah, just calling back. Were you the one that called?" She gruffly asked. _This better not be a prank caller._ She reached over to the console to pop the lid open, inside were several empty packs- she reached aimlessly until she found a half empty one to pull out a cigarette. Biting it between her teeth, she lit it and proceeded to smoke.

"Yes, is this Ymir?"

Ymir reclined in her seat. "Uh-huh."

"I'm calling about the job, I saw your advertisement on the paper."

"You got experience?"

There was a moment of hesitation before she answered,"Yes."

She took a drag.

"Will you come by ferry?"

"Yes. Actually, I...uh, I'm on my way, just fifteen minutes away from the docks," she said. "I hope it won't be so much of a trouble for you to get me when I arrive...otherwise, I'll use a taxi-"

"No, no, I'll pick you up." Ymir chewed at the butt, she always hated late notices but she desperately needed this person. The taxi wouldn't be able to drive so far out to where she lived, she would have to get this person herself. "No taxis run through here."

"I'm so sorry to inconvenience you."

She dismissed the apology with,"I'll be waiting," and then hung up.

She dumped the ashes, slammed her door, started the engine, and pulled out of the parking lot despite early hitting a pedestrian. The poor man shouted at her even as she went into the street of the quiet town. His yells echoed down the lane but she ignored him while throwing out the rest of her cigarette through the open window. Her foot pressed the gas and her truck rumbled down the road.

In the large basin of water to her left, she could see the ferry coming close from a distance

She parked at the designated lot outside of the pier. She took her pack, shoved it into her back pocket, and then got out of her vehicle to survey the area. Today's weather was clear with not a single cloud in the sky; the sun was beating down on her. The tank-top she wore wasn't good enough for her, she reached back in, grabbed a plaited shirt, and wore it, she went to a shaded spot under a building nearby.

She waited and watched the ferry, it was moving slow but steady. Her foot tapped against a railing that she used to lean against by her elbows, it would take another ten minutes before the arrival came. During this, a familiar voice came about.

"Ymir! Been a while since I seen you out in town!" It was Sasha, the local hunter- she was well known, along with her father, for catching game here and there. The pair always won the hunting competition every year. When not hunting, the woman was the owner of the same market Ymir walked out of. If she wasn't mistaken, wasn't Sasha supposed to go to the national championships for shooting?

Ymir stared at her for a moment, then turned away to focus on the ferry.

"C'mon, don't be so sour-"

"Came here to get a drink," Ymir huskily muttered.

"Well, coming to the docks will only get you fish oil and tourists, not drinks," Sasha joked, she too leaned against the railing. She was always high-spirited, however, she grew quiet and softly told her,"Look, about the-"

"It was bound to happen anyway. Just keep quiet about it. You've been doing well so far."

Her face grew pale but she quickly collected herself. "So...what're you really doing out here?"

Ymir roughly sighed, her patience already gone passed its limit. The woman wouldn't leave her alone until she had her fill of answers. "I'm getting a new one."

"Already?" Sasha asked, her brow lifted up a bit in shock.

"Do I look fit to be on my own?"

Sasha murmured something, at this Ymir extended her hand to grasp at her shoulder.

"What was that-?"

A strident horn blew.

The ferry had arrived and was tying itself to the dock by the yardmen. Sasha gave a shrug and wandered away, her second answer having been drowned out by the blaring horn. Ymir had to bring her attention to the people disembarking from the ship; the vehicles were unloaded first before the passengers. She went back to leaning against the railing and waited.

Soon, those without their cars were given their chance to leave. In total, there were about two dozen people. Out of most, she saw familial units, several tourists, and others who were the local townspeople. She scanned every person, she was looking for anyone who didn't fit the usual sights she used to seeing. A little bit after the last person disembarked, she finally saw her.

A young woman, perhaps in her early twenties, came stumbling over the small bridge.

She was short, perhaps about chest height for Ymir. Her long, blond hair was loose, her bangs covered her eyes but, when swept from constant movement, the curtains revealed eyes that were bluer than the skies above- they were the kind that would make anyone stare for a bit too long. The clothes on her back were modest and certainly noticeable from the average, or at least what Ymir considered average.

They were clean and new, not ragged or spent. They fitted onto her petite form rather nicely but they were simple. They were traveling clothes, nothing special. At least she didn't wear make-up, she wasn't the materialistic kind of person.

Her lithe body was hauling the luggage she carried, she looked like she could barely carry anything, given her small stature. She watched her struggle in amusement until she finally reached the solid floor of the dock. The girl wiped her brow, clearly she never done this sort of labor in her life before (or it could be that it was summer); she looked clueless of where she was as though she embarked on the wrong ferry to the wrong town.

"She's the one," Ymir murmured to herself, she peeled herself from the railing and approached her when her back was to her. "You the one who called?"

She yelped at the sudden question, she was nervous about something but she quickly gathered her wits, collected herself, and answered with her own question,"Are you Ymir?"

Ymir tried not to laugh. Did the girl not read the job description? If this was all the stupid advertisement can fetch for her, she may as well take her. She glanced around, she was hoping for someone else to appear since this was a beautiful prank. Since she was the last person to leave the ferry, there was no one else to pick from. She shook her head and wiped her mouth to clean off her a smile.

"That's me alright."

Despite the clean look, the girl didn't look like she had money. For all she could guess, the blond may have packed her entire life into her luggage. Even if she may have never worked a day in her life, there was something admirable in runaways to Ymir; those who took a chance at having a new life, those were the kind she held in good regard. Something about those who take second chances had been a fixation for her; it all started with this girl in book she read once...

The girl placed her luggage down so that she could reach into her back pocket. Her hands padded one side, then went to the other to produce a paper that had Ymir's advertisement, it was solid proof. "I saw this in a shop nearby. Do I have to-"

"As long as you can work, you're hired," Ymir said, she waved away the flyer and motioned for the girl to come. "You can do all what that paper says, right?"

"Yes!" She had the spirit to do it.

"We'll see about that," Ymir murmured under her breath. She led her to the pick-up, then took her luggage to put it in the bed of the truck. "Take the passenger, don't mind the vodka."

She looked a bit hesitant but she seated herself properly with the glass jug at the floor. Ymir went in. As she started the engine, she looked on to her, asking,"What's your name?" It would have been appropriate to ask what the girl wanted to be called. "Well?"

The girl looked thoughtful for a moment, as though trying to deliberate on such a complex decision. By the time the engine roared to life, she answered,"Krista, my name's Krista Lenz."

It sounded unreal but at the same time it fitted her. She brought her attention to the road and pulled out of the lot for the street. "As you know, you're going to be living with me for this, I live too far for you to commute back and forth and I'm definitely not going to wake up every morning or evening to drive for you. I have enough rooms, you can take your pick except for the master's bedroom and mine."

"So you're just...hiring without interviewing me?" Krista asked timidly. "Letting me into your house without knowing who I am?"

Ymir gave a half-shrug. "Why not?"

"Isn't that how jobs work? Applicant comes in, you talk to them, decide if they're good enough- and you're letting a stranger stay with you-"

Oh god, she was the type to question things.

"The fact that you went out this far means you're willing to take this up. It's good enough for me."

Krista quieted herself. That assertive statement was enough to silence her for the rest of the ride, either that or something else was on her mind. Ymir turned on the radio to make up for the stillness in the air.

Connie's station was on, he wasn't speaking but he had music playing.

The town's buildings faded into small lots, then to the occasional houses and trailers before finally blending into the evergreen forest. The black road and faded yellow lines were the only break in the scene, leaves kicked up behind the pick-up, and the sun broke through the canopies above. Parallel to the road on Krista's side was the glimmering lake that spanned as far as the eye can see.

Jet-skiers broke the waves and left white plumes behind them, others were swimming and soaking in the sun- summer was here. In the course of a month, school would resume and the activities in the quiet river would cease.

"You going to school?" Ymir asked after a while, she made turn at the fifth mile to enter the forest. She had to ask, the woman looked quite young.

"No, actually, I can't afford to."

"...I can't pay you well enough to send you to school."

"I just need a home," she hastily said.

Ymir shrugged- she was right, this girl was a runaway. For now, she could keep her until she needed to deliberate on either returning or staying. Hopefully, by then, Ymir would have found a new replacement or the girl would decide to stay. "If you can work, it's fine by me for you to stay. You'd have to stay anyway- like I said, no cabs run through here and I'm not driving you back and forth."

The last part was accentuated when she drove further. The trees were endless and there seemed to be no way to reach another being in there. Between trees were more trees, shrubbery, and other forest life, but behind all that was darkness. The canopy above them thickened as the evergreens became coniferous with branches that reached out. Krista looked a tad bit worried, but she tried to hide it by going on with the conversation.

"How much would you pay?"

"Anything, really. Like you need, I can give you a home and pay for all the necessities in life since you'll be living with me, and give you a pay for working," Ymir explained.

"Perfect."

As much as she questioned Ymir earlier on her choice of employment, she had no questions for anything offered to her. Maybe if she offered her a gun, the girl would gladly take it to shoot herself- she made a mental note to not let the girl anywhere near the safe.

Her home was that of a manor. It was a large one that dated back to being one of the oldest within the area, perhaps even predating the town itself. With only two floors and an attic, the home was once designated for a large family, along with the extended family. However, the numbers dwindled until one remained. Ymir took to living on the second floor in one of the Northern rooms to face the main road.

Everything in the home, other than two drawing rooms, a study room, another office room, the kitchen, and finally the living room, was left unused. The tract of land was in a sadder state than the unused rooms- vast parts were cleared at one point to make room for arenas but now they were being reclaimed by the land. About fifty paces from the front door of the home, a barn in poor condition used to stable the family's horses back when the land had seen better days.

Fences, buildings, and other wooden things were rotting. Should she had enough money, she would make the repairs but none came to visit, none came to gawk at the sad state, none came to judge her home. Even if she had the funds, she lacked the care to clean this up.

She pulled into the gravel driveway and parked by the front door.

Krista hopped out to examine her surroundings.

"Do you live with anyone?"

"Just myself," Ymir said, she got out to get the luggage. She placed it on the ground and then rounded by her to get her vodka.

* * *

A/N: I want to play with the relationship between Ymir and Krista, I want to play with their development. The environment in this story is heavily influenced by Alan Wake; for those unfamiliar, think of the Pacific Northwest.


	2. Chapter 2

I do not own Shingeki no Kyojin

* * *

When she first entered the manor it was dark inside.

Crimson velvet curtains drawn over the windows prevented light from coming inside. The stench of cigarettes was stronger than the stale air, she could taste the tobacco on her touch without opening her mouth. Krista instinctively covered her mouth, she would have to grow accustomed to this.

Ymir turned on the light after she closed the door, it revealed a grand entrance hall that was rather outdated for this time. The aesthetic decor of old paintings were the only sights to take interest of, along with the chandelier of three tiers that hung from the tall ceiling. A moth eaten rug covered the wooden floor, upon it were footprints that stained the floral patterns.

She took it all in for a minute.

To the left was the open entrance to the living room, she could see a flat screen television with leather sofas sitting in front of it- it was probably the rare room that broke the home's rule of old time decorum. To the right was another open entrance to a dinning room. In front of her were the stairs that led to the second floor, they hugged against the wall to the right and curled upwards. Adjacent to the staircase was a hallway but she had no clue where it led to.

Ymir watched her, she had those eyes that bore into her, it was the kind of stare that made one shift about.

"I'll show you which room you can take," she said to snap Krista back into place.

She headed up the stairs, Krista lagged behind a few paces when they got to the second floor. Even up here the curtains were drawn. She followed until she stopped in an intersection. Ymir pointed to the right, to the North. "My room is at the end of there, and to the front of us is the Master's bedroom. You can take any of the rooms in between. By the time I get back, I want you downstairs. I have to give you a tour of this place before I set you to work."

"Yes, ma'am," she said, this made Ymir roll her eyes.

"Just say Ymir, formalities make me uncomfortable."

She turned away and headed for her room as Krista murmured,"Yes, Ymir."

She was gone.

Krista rubbed at her eyes. To go this far, she was surprised no one had come after her- the only kind face to take her in without obvious suspicion was this cold woman. She didn't like the way Ymir eyed her, it wasn't predatory but it was more judgmental. Was she trying to figure her out just by staring at her? Maybe, but it's not like she would learn anything by looks.

She made sure to dress modestly after all.

The hallway to the left had rows of doors. Opposite to them were windows that had curtains over them, the lights above were on. She dragged her luggage to the first door, she opened it to find that was a study room- it was probably the cleanest part of the home considering Ymir attempted to keep it clear. Books were lined to one side, an oak desk and chair were on the other; a coffee table and a sofa was in the middle for relaxation.

Above the desk was an elk's head mounted on a plaque, oddly enough there was a bra hanging from its antler.

Krista closed the door and went on.

The next door was locked, as was the next.

The door at the end of this hall was the furthest from Ymir's. It was the only one, other than the study room, that was unlocked. She entered it to find the room's furniture was covered over in white sheets. She settled her luggage at the door to prop it open, she then went over to the window to draw back the curtains, she wanted light and she was more than happy to be bathed in it.

It was like being in a cave for years when the light came through the window. She undid the small latch and swung open the window to allow fresh air into the dank room. The scenery outside consisted of an open arena with brush growing endlessly, beyond that was the border to the forest, beyond that were the mountains a few miles off. Songbirds were singing, it was nature outside her window.

This was a rare sight to see, she preferred it over the city.

She turned around and uncovered the furniture. The white sheets were piled outside the door.

It was a queen sized bed with, strangely, new sheets spread over it. To the foot of it was a bureau, by the window was a cabinet, under the window was a larger bureau, and to the right of the bed was a nightstand. She took notice o the bathroom door and, parallel to it was another door. She got up to try and open it but, much to her surprise, it didn't. Better ask Ymir later about it.

Remembering Ymir's instructions, she quickly freshened herself up in the bathroom and left.

She went downstairs, Ymir was there; her hand was empty of the vodka.

"C'mon," Ymir told her, she gestured with her chin to follow.

She led her to the living room- it was dirty with the wallpaper peeling off at all the walls. Above was a bit of water damage probably made from a leaking pipe. She turned and was directed to the dinning hall where a long table and chairs, all unpolished and needing care, were. A fireplace and another elk head was situated at the head of the table. Lining the walls on one side were covered windows and pictures of horses that were in proper positions with respective handlers holding their heads.

In one of them, the most recent, she saw a girl that strongly resembled Ymir. At her hand was a leather lead rope that haltered a gray horse.

"Is that you?" She asked.

Ymir stood by her, she studied the photograph. "Yes."

"Where are the horses then?"

"Father gambled most of the horses away, I sold the rest since I couldn't afford them," she said with a shrug. "You like them?"

"I never touched one before, but they're beautiful."

They moved on, not much was said on the subject afterwards.

The kitchen looked hardly used. Ymir had to show her how the stove worked as the model was an older one, as were the ovens.

She went on to the parlor and ended the tour there. "That's all you need to know. Outside is the barn, though I don't need to explain that."

Krista nodded. "What do you want me to do specifically?"

Ymir gave a distasteful laugh, she quieted herself and carefully explained,"I want the curtains drawn over at all times. The sun bothers me. I want you to cook every meal and call me in- I wake up at noon and I sleep until I'm piss drunk or I got nothing to do. I'll take you into town so you can buy whatever there needs to be to keep us alive. Keep this place clean, don't enter the Master's bedroom, it's fine as it is.

"If I'm asleep, don't enter my room. Don't misplace my things either when you clean it up too. Hm, what else...?" She scratched her chin thoughtfully. "...if you catch me hungover, just leave me alone unless I say otherwise. Do as I say and I shouldn't have a problem with you. Is that understood? Everything else is common sense."

Krista took it all in, she nodded at the end.

"When I'm out, I'm out shooting stuff in the woods."

"Hunting?"

"Wasting bullets, actually. Now, if you have anything to ask of me, I'll provide it as long as it's necessary. I'll be in my room for today, make sure you cook something by evening."

Before she walked away, Krista asked her,"What about my pay?"

"At the end of the month I'll give it to you."

-...-

As the sun sank below the line of trees, a truck rumbled in and parked at the driveway near Ymir's. Said woman opened her curtain and glared down to see Sasha slamming the door and then going into the manor without knocking. A loud, drawn out call of her name came by, Ymir snuffed out her cigarette and went downstairs to see her- the woman never announced that she would come, it was an annoying tendency of hers.

Krista had already greeted her and was heading to the kitchen. She was wearing a white apron that was stained in God knows what, she didn't look the least bit attractive at the moment considering her face had ashes smeared across it. Ymir raised a brow at her passing, then looked over at Sasha.

"What?"

"What do you mean _what?_"

_"What?"_ Ymir pressed on.

Sasha gestured for her to come outside. They went out, from there Sasha leaned against the porch railing, Ymir closed the door behind her. Both of them stood quietly for a minute or so, then Sasha started it up with,"I was at the Maria with Connie."

Ymir stared at her, she was slowly losing patience at Sasha being there, telling her she was at the bar with that bald idiot. "So?"

"Marco used to frequent that place often, you know that?"

"Hell would I know where he'd go on Friday nights," she told her roughly her gaze drifted over to the barn. Sasha suddenly reached over to her, she took her shoulder to take her attention back. "Alright, what?"

"I overheard Jean talking to Connie. It's been two weeks, Jean sounded a bit worried about him- Marco usually drinks on Fridays and he's been gone for a couple. Look, he was sitting by Hannes, next thing I knew they started talking to one another. In the end, I heard that Hannes is coming over tomorrow to check things out-"

Ymir tilted her head to the side for a moment. "You came all this way to tell me that?"

"Well...yeah, of course I did!" She exclaimed, she had a pale face. "I wish you took this more seriously."

She gave a shrug.

"I had nothing to do with it," Ymir stared bluntly.

"I know, I just...didn't want you to wake up tomorrow and find the man at your doorstep holding a badge in your face. For God's sake, if you showed yourself hungover, God knows what you'd pull on him," she sighed, she headed for her truck. "Be ready for him, alright?"

Ymir didn't answer her. She watched her get into a her truck and then drive away. The twin red lights shined until they became dull, then they faded into nothing with the engine gone and replaced by the sound of crickets chirping in the darkness. Ymir wiped her nose, then she rubbed her eyes. Damn, why did Marco have to be the sociable one? She went back into the house and found that there was a pleasant smell, one that differed greatly from the usual smell of tobacco.

Krista hadn't called her.

The thought of an investigator coming over the next day irked her. She didn't take it well when people came, the police was the last people she'd expect to pop in. She went into the parlor where the stash of drinks would normally be, it was beyond the hallway by the stairs- something inside needed to be calmed down.

Opening the liquor cabinet, she was in disparage to find it empty. Didn't she buy a new bottle of vodka earlier in the day? She scoured the other shelves and cabinets and found them without alcohol. She wandered left and right, confounded as to where she put it. She swore she put it here, she remembered telling Krista to meet her downstairs and then placing said jug in the parlor.

"Shit," she cursed as she was bent over under the bar.

A soft voice called for her. "Uh, Ymir?"

"What?" She asked gruffly.

Krista winced a bit at that.

"Dinner's ready."

Ymir stood up. Instead of praising her, she asked,"Had you seen the vodka?"

"No, not at all, only in the truck and when you carried it," she said, she was gathering her wits again. Why was she so nervous?

Ymir took notice that she cleaned her face of the ashes.

"Well, if you see it, put it here on this bar so I can find it," Ymir instructed, she walked over to her, then passed her for the dinning room.

The girl had already set the table with a rather delectable meal (poached salmon with fresh produce from the market). It looked more like the kind of food you'd find at a fancy restaurant on the mainland, she had to admit that she was impressed. She was lucky to have remembered to advertise for a cook that could, well, cook but she wasn't expecting this kind of quality. She took to sitting at the head of the table, Krista looked on to her.

Before she could lift her fork, Krista timidly asked,"Would it be alright to eat with you?"

Ymir paused for a moment. When was the last time she ate with anyone? Not even Marco stayed to eat with her, he only served her the food and called her down, then left to do whatever the fuck he was doing. She saw no issue in this and gestured to her left; there was an extra plate set there like the girl was hoping she would consent. "Sure. Go ahead."

Krista took off her apron, settled it in the next chair, and sat by her.

It was quiet between them as they ate. Ymir had finished first and was downing her glass of water. Before long, Krista inquired,"Who was that lady?"

"Sasha Braus," Ymir said while wiping her mouth of the sauce. "She's a big game hunter. Knew her since high school."

"I take it that Deliverance is one of those towns where everyone knows everyone," Krista surmised.

Ymir have an agreeable nod. "Pretty much, yeah. It's quiet, not much happens here except for the hunting competitions for the season."

It went quiet once more.

"...why do you need a servant?"

"For one, I'm rather lazy in taking care of things. For another, my last one quit. Marco, that's his name, he left a while ago," she explained, she didn't want Krista poking around about the happenings in this home,"something about going out to do better commissions I think, I wasn't paying him well enough anyway. No doubt you're going to receive less than him." She wanted to test how well Krista would stay. "You don't mind that, do you?"

"As long as I have a home, I don't mind it."

"Did you run away or something?"

Krista bit at her lip. "Kind of...yeah. I'm eighteen though, if that's what you're worried about."

"I'm not, I don't have a reason to turn you in or something. Everyone's got their reasons," she said. She decided to change the subject, there was no use in rushing to find out who Krista really was; Ymir would find out on her own, one way or another. "Sounds like you're fresh from high school. What would you study if you had the choice?"

"Literature," she said, there was confidence in her tone. She even smiled. "There's always a deep meaning in words."

"There's a meaning in everything. I was majoring in Psychology a while back, had to drop out of it all though."

Krista didn't respond, Ymir went on.

"My family couldn't afford to keep me in school considering how much debt my father got us into at the time," she said. "The bastard nearly gambled everything away but luckily his last bet gave him the money that set me for life...he's gone now, it's good on my part at least since the cash went to me."

She stood up.

"That's enough stories for tonight. I'll be in my room, don't bother me unless you need to."


	3. Chapter 3

I do not own Shingeki no Kyojin

* * *

She awoke early the next morning.

Only an hour or so of rest was all she gained. The quietness of the manor gave way to sounds that left her restless. Pipes groaning, wood creaking, and the wildlife outside, she could hardly keep her eyes closed. Just as the night before and so on, she kept her ears open for them. Someone, anyone. Even though she traveled this far to the last place anyone would look, she still couldn't shake the worry.

Krista dragged herself to the bathroom to wash her face, then went to her still packed luggage to pick out her clothes for the day.

Her hands still held the stench of fish but she ignored it, surely whatever she could find in the fridge would replace the scent. When she had pulled her shirt over, the sound of footsteps caught her ears. Ymir was awake? Strange, the woman said she would often sleep until noon.

Krista ventured out of her room, her eyes readying themselves to be accustomed to the darkness of the hallway.

However, she was bombarded by light from the rising sun. She squinted for a moment, she was confused to see the curtains drawn back and showing the shine of the hallway's pale blue wallpaper. Footsteps continued on, they were coming from the staircase- the owner appeared from around the corner.

Ymir.

Her hair wasn't clipped up, it was down and hanging loosely as though she just got out of bed.

Krista grew silent, she was about to speak but her retreating form disappeared into the darkness of her room and slammed the door all too hastily. She stood there at her own door, she tried to understand what just happened. She went down the hallway and stopped at Ymir's door, she hesitated to knock as she remembered that the woman wanted to be left undisturbed.

Her hand hung in the air just a foot away from the knob. Slowly, she lowered it and turned away. She went down the stairs and decided to explore the home for herself. When she arrived to the first floor, she found that all of the curtains had been drawn back just as they were upstairs. Golden locks of oriental sashes were tied in perfect bows, surely Ymir had done this herself.

With the light shining upon the wooden floors and furniture, she saw that all of the wooden objects had to be dusted and polished. There wasn't much to do, she had to fill in her time somehow. Besides, she was here to work, she may as well do it. She pulled her hair back into a loose ponytail and went off to the storage closet in the hallway- she discovered it last night just after dinner since she had accidentally spilled water on the stone floor.

Upon opening the door, she grabbed the cleaning supplies and set to work.

-...-

Noon came, and by that time she had finished dusting the first floor and polished most of the tables. It was time to start cooking, Ymir may come back downstairs soon, it was enough that she heard footsteps from upstairs- she was up again.

Krista had switched the cleaning apron for the other one from last night. As she began to prepare an omelet, she remembered being back home. Home. While beating away at the eggs in the bowl, she thought of how that other place wasn't really home. It was more of where she slept, ate, and grew up. Thoughts traveled to her mother when she used to watch her sit in the old kitchen, reading a book, never working.

It was always Krista that labored away with the others.

She was spacing out, she was forgetting that she was beating the eggs. The only thing that pulled her back to reality was a harsh bark that came from the entrance,"Krista!"

At this she winced and nearly dropped the bowl. She managed to settle it carefully upon the wooden counter, she rushed into the dinning hall and found Ymir thundering down the last steps of the stairs. Her usually cool face showed great agitation, she was obviously pissed- her brows were contorted in anger and her eyes were bearing into her.

Krista froze on the spot but she managed to utter,"W..what's wrong?"

"What's wrong? What's _wrong?_" Ymir repeated to her, her head craning to the side a bit. "What's this!?"

Her hands swung out, Krista took it as a generalization of the room.

"I-I cleaned it! I cleaned-"

"No, that's your fucking job, I told you to do that," Ymir snapped, Krista took a step back,"I'm talking about the windows. Why are the curtains pulled back!?"

She thought of what she saw that morning, when Ymir was coming up the stairs and retreating into her bedroom. Ymir stood there in a loose shirt and pajama pants, glowering at her, Krista was compelled to try to explain to her,"T-this morning...you were walking to your room, maybe you did...this?"

Ymir shook her head and snorted out,"Are you shitting me? I hate the sunlight!" To accentuate this, she rushed about the dining hall, her hands tearing away at the sashes to bring the curtains back into their places. With the laces bunched up in her hands, about half a dozen in total, she stopped in front of the young girl and held them to her face. This time, she spoke calmly (surely the run about allowed her to exert some of her anger),"Go undo those bows, I want this place dark."

Krista stared up at her, wide-eyed. She wasn't expecting this, she wasn't expecting Ymir to lash out so poorly at such a trivial thing like curtains being drawn back. She was more confused than hurt yet the nearly found herself on the verge of tears; it was because of Ymir overwhelming her out of the blue. Krista hesitated to take the sashes.

Ymir's glare had begun to soften as though she, too, was conflicted for snapping at the young woman. Her face slowly undone its menacing look and reverted back to the passive, cold expression she had when she first greeted Krista at the docks. As though she defeated herself in a mental argument, she sighed heavily.

"...I'm sorry about that, I don't take it too well to sudden changes," she admitted. She settled the sashes onto the table and pulled a chair out for herself, she sat down. Krista kept her distance. "Did you tie the curtains back?"

Krista shook her head slowly.

Ymir thoughtfully stared at one of the pictures on the wall as if they would tell her a proper answer. After a while of silence, she broke it by saying much more calmly,"I was asleep this morning, I wouldn't tie those curtains." She suddenly looked at Krista, she was rather serious about something. "You don't think you saw a ghost, did you?"

"G...ghost?" The last thing Krista needed to land herself in is a haunted home with a woman that had a fuse shorter than a fingernail. It was childish to assume ghosts existed, but then again, it was early in the morning. Maybe she imagined it as she was still exhausted, maybe her eyes were playing tricks, maybe it was just a shadow...but the footsteps she heard prior, the physical appearance, she swore that if she went to Ymir that morning, she would have been able to touch her.

Krista gave a blank look in turn. "You're kidding."

"Sadly, I'm not, actually...I'm convinced about it." She leaned back into the chair and rubbed her eyes. "Been here for so long, Sasha could be right..."

"Right about what?"

A heavy thud from the entrance hall thundered through the home. Upon the door at eye level was a metal handle that, when knocked against a metal plate, it would resound in a solid sound; Ymir stood up. "Go back to whatever you were doing, I'll take care of this."

-...-

Ymir rubbed her eyes again.

Yelling at Krista out of impulse...that was stupid, later she'd have to apologize much more properly for doing that.

Hell, she was more concerned about why she slipped out that she believed in ghosts. The woman must think she's mad...maybe she was, maybe she wasn't. She often questioned that herself. Ever since the funeral, things have been amiss...but as far as she knew, ghosts sounded like the best sane answer for all the unexplained. Sasha could be right about the loneliness part that would mess with one's head; another benefit in Krista living with her was that Ymir could keep her sanity in check.

A live person talking to her, she needed that before she went completely off her rocker. Strange things happen from time to time, but she would have to adjust to having someone new in her life. In all contradiction, Ymir hated change, this change was something that was necessary. Ymir only took things that were necessary.

While passing by a window, she undid the sash and allowed the curtain to fall back into place; she tossed the cloth to a basket nearby.

Her hand wrapped around the knob, she turned it and was greeted by Hannes's smile.

The man was tall with blonde hair, he looked as though he hadn't shaved that morning. He wore the typical outfit of the law enforcement here but, to her, he looked more like one of the park rangers from the national park. She glared at him, then took notice of two individuals that were standing about near his truck. If she remembered them correctly, they were Eren and Mikasa.

The guy, Eren, was well known in those parts. Other than being loud and rowdy, he was known around due to his mother dying when he was at an early age. Something about her being mauled to death by wolves or something? Or did she disappear? Bits and pieces were told to Ymir, she cared less, all she knew of him was that he had a strong conviction against the dogs despite laws protecting said animals.

She didn't learn much of his sister either. Fuck, she didn't even look the least bit like him. She was Asian, wasn't she? Whatever.

Hannes cleared his throat. "Good afternoon, Ymir, is it?"

"Yeah, that's me," she said.

"From what I heard, you were Marco Bott's employer. Would it be alright to come in?" He asked. "I need to ask you about him."

This was going to take a while, she could feel it.

Ymir nodded and opened her door wider, she made a small gesture towards the two. "Go ahead. They can come in too."

"Good, they are close with Marco," he told her. He turned his head and gave a whistle, then he jerked his head a bit to signal for them to follow. They each filed in, she led them to her living room. They took their seats on the couch while Ymir sat parallel to them.

"Krista!" Ymir called.

The blonde appeared a few moments later. She looked shaken but, nonetheless, she had time to recover. "Yes?"

"Get them some tea, the herbal stuff should be at the third cabinet up to the right of the stove," she said. Krista nodded and walked away. "What brought you here?"

"I was requested to come here on behalf of a few others and these two," he explained, his hand motioned to the siblings. "It's been over half a month month and no one's heard of Marco. Since he took residence here, I thought it best to start here. Do you know where he is?"

Ymir gave the truth. "As of right now, no."

"When was the last you saw of him?"

"Two weeks ago. Actually, he left without telling me. I figured he would have told someone else of this, I'm surprised people had noticed him gone at all."

Eren broke in. "The whole town knew him, we went to school with him, so did you."

"Didn't mean I knew him. The guy wanted money so I let him work here, no more than that," Ymir said in her defense.

"Regardless, he's not the kind to just get up and go."

Mikasa held her hand on his shoulder, it was a silent way to tell him to be quiet. Ymir felt that they were brought for a reason; again, she didn't know them well. They didn't know her well either. The look Eren was giving her was irksome but she stood her ground and calmly reclined. Mikasa was passive, calm, and cold, her voice matched her mood as she started,"Are you entering the exhibition this year?"

Ymir shook her head. "Hadn't bought any at all, not planning to either."

"Your family always competed," Mikasa noted.

"It's just me now, I lost an interest," she said,"money dwindles down with those animals, it's useless having them since I can't make cash to support them."

"What about Marco's horse?"

"That was sold off after Marco left," she ended.

"Why would you sell it? You could have called Jean to pick it up."

Ymir sharply said,"Technically, it was my property, papers were mine. You could check the pedigree for yourself if you want."

Mikasa gave a slow nod as though she agreed with the vague explanation, but she was eying her like a hawk. She didn't speak anymore as Krista entered with a tray of cups and a pot, she poured each of them the drink but when she left, no one touched them.

Hannes decided to go on by asking,"How long had he been working here?"

"He was here when my father was still around," she explained,"so maybe a year or two. Father needed a ranch hand, Marco worked here a couple times before but...when my mother died he had Marco live here to help some more, eventually got him into full employment. I didn't interact with him much, really, but he took care of me for a bit before disappearing."

"What was the last thing he said to you? Any indication that he would leave?"

Ymir looked thoughtful for a moment, it had been a terribly long while since she last saw him. Well, it felt more than half a month but still; very few words were passed through one another. "He told me...he was going to see Annie Leonhardt for some supplies but that was a few days before he was gone- hm?"

Eren stood up as though he obtained the answer for the end of it. "Well, let's go check on Annie."

He was quite rude about leaving; he stood up without thanking for the tea or uttering a good-bye. Already he was out the door, Mikasa got to her feet right after him to catch up while Hannes reached across the table to offer Ymir his hand to shake. "Eren has been a bit agitated ever since he found out about Marco this morning. Sorry for that."

She dismissed his apology and his hand. "Good luck in trying to find Marco, if he turns up I'll let you know."

He drew back his hand, his lips faltered as he realized he was never welcomed.

"Much appreciated."

She gave and nod and he went off. Once the door was closed, the sound of an engine being started rumbled from the outside. Ymir stared down at the unused cups, then she reached over to the one closest to her. She drank from it slowly, then her lips curled and disgust. As she spat the tea back, Krista appeared at the corner of her eye.

"Lunch is ready," she declared.

"Great." Ymir stood, she felt the urge to drink but the thought of the missing vodka derailed her mind. "Do you need to go to the market today? Since I lost the vodka, I'll be dropping by there to get another one."

Krista stared at her for a moment, she tried to process her question- surely she was still timid from earlier or she could be judging Ymir for that lame excuse of ghpsts. Once coming to the conclusion, she answered without hesitation this time,"Actually, yes, unless you want to eat eggs for the next few days- that's all I had left to cook with." She went by Ymir, took the tray and cups back, and walked back around her. "You...and me, we'll be going?"

"Do you know how to drive?"

"No, not really..."

Ymir stared at her. If the girl knew how to drive, it would save Ymir the time and effort from having to go back and forth.

A thought hit her. The fucking vodka.

The girl was under the legal drinking age to purchase the alcohol. Sighing, Ymir figured that in the end she would have to be the one to drive for the two of them. Krista had disappeared from around the corner.

Having Marco being brought up all too frequently for her tastes placed a great amount of pressure on her- she never liked the guy at all but she never wanted him to go away. She swore she had nothing to do with it but with a town suspecting her of foul play, she felt that she would lose the peaceful, idle life she had so far.

Ymir was ready to leave but she took notice of the uncovered windows in her living room, she went to each of them to undo the sashes.

* * *

A/N: Slight edits made in last chapter, Marco disappeared two weeks ago.


	4. Chapter 4

I do not own Shingeki no Kyojin

A/N: There's a slight change in the conversation between Ymir and Sasha in the first chapter.

* * *

Light rain pitter-pattered over the roof of the car. The rhythmic sounds of the wipers were louder but Ymir needed to see the road properly. One hand was on the wheel, the other held a cigarette between her fingers, she rested her head against her wrist. Krista was gazing out the window on her side but her hands were folded at her lap. They hadn't spoken after she announced breakfast and when Ymir called her down when she was ready to leave.

The cigarette was exchanged between hands and then put out at the ask tray. It was too quiet, she was tempted to turn the radio on but she couldn't bring herself to do it.

"Um...hey," Ymir started, she glanced over at Krista once in a while. "About this morning...sorry about the curtains."

Krista finally looked at her. "It's alright."

"You sure about it? I mean, well, I'm not used to having someone living with me."

"Marco did, didn't he?" She asked, brows slightly creasing as though she wanted to test Ymir's sanity.

"Yeah, and yet he wasn't there. The guy was quiet, almost like he never existed. He knew how I was and he didn't need to talk to me about things, made himself invisible most of the time. Hearing you up and about, it's kinda weird."

Krista went back to gazing out the window. "You can't expect me to work quietly."

"No, but I'll get used to it." Ymir reached over and gave a pat to her head. "Just don't put those curtains up."

"Why not?"

Ymir didn't answer her.

The rest of the ride fell into silence except for the rain. The water skiers weren't outside today, neither was anyone for the matter when they rolled into town. They passed by the cars that would occasionally be on the road but it was like the town had grown dead. The liveliness from yesterday felt like it was an age away, Ymir decided to finally turn on the radio.

She changed the station to play some lame, country song. It was like pulling teeth when she heard the baritone singer drawl out his words; she snarled to his voice but her scowl was tucked away by a forced cough.

They entered a parking lot were a dozen or so cars were parked. Once she pulled in, she reached to the back and took a hooded jacket, she gave it to Krista. Her wallet was in the middle console, she gave it to her and said,"Here, take whatever cash it has and buy whatever you need, I'll wait in here."

Krista opened it to and quickly counted two hundred.

-...-

The general store was almost as dead as the streets. White tiles and gray aisles were broken by the colors of packages that had foodstuff. A few cardboard advertisements were here and there, it was as large as the market back in the city yet it was the only one in the entire town that had the necessities it needed. At the cash register was the brunette woman from last night.

She had her hair tied back while wearing a green apron, a radio to her left near the machine was playing music.

Sasha was reading from a magazine, her eyes half-lidded to look up until the small bells from the double doors rang. Not leaving the page, she dully said,"Welcome to Dauper Market, where all your goods are delivered."

Krista smiled, there was a familiar and friendly face. Despite only speaking to her for a minute last night, the sight of her was comforting. With her so far from what she knew, she felt that Sasha would be her only friend here. "Hello?"

She finally looked up, her eyes lit up and she suddenly smiled. "Oh, you're here!" The magazine was placed down.

"...I thought you were a hunter."

Sasha chuckled as she glanced to the left; there were numerous photographs on the wall depicting her winning catch over the years. "I am, I just run this place when I'm not out there...hm, Armin's supposed to drop by an hour ago to take his shift- anyway, what can I do for you? Ymir brought you down here for some groceries, right?"

"Yes, I need whatever Marco came here for," she explained, but the mention of Marco made Sasha's smile falter for a moment. "Can you help me?"

She got off of her stool and went around the conveyer. "Sure, I'll help. He used to come here once a week, always bought the same things. Ymir's taste doesn't change much but at least she always buys the high quality stuff."

They went deeper into the store after Krista took a basket. When they were in the vegetable section, Sasha handed Krista some ripe tomatoes. She reached up for the packaged mushrooms on the upper shelf as she asked,"Did she tell you about Marco?"

"A little, not much though," she answered as she stooped low to examine the spinach. The mention of the guy gave indication that Sasha knew of him, and considering she visited last night she may even be inclined to tell Krista about the both of them that lived together in the manor. While being here, she could use the time to learn more of Ymir. "Do you know why he left?"

Sasha paused for a bit. "Left? Um...it's not surprising to me he did but it's strange that he did it without telling anyone. From what I know, Ymir wasn't even told; she's his last boss, y'know."

They went on to the meat section. There, Sasha gave her the best quality of meats. As she got a hold of them, she continued.

"If I remember correctly...on Marco's last visit here, he was complaining about Ymir. Those two never exactly went along well, especially when she came back from the mainland. It was around the time she was selling off all of her family's horses that things went completely south; luckily Jean bought most of her stock but there were some that should've been kept for Marco."

She gave Krista the last package, it was more than enough for her to carry; Sasha took the liberty to carrying all of it to the register.

"After he took his groceries, I never saw him again."

As the beeping of purchased goods rang through her eyes, she tilted her head to the side. "They were fighting over horses..."

"Not just horses, these were the best breeds this place had. Other than Jean, Ymir's stock had really good bloodlines; they used to supply competitive breeds and all, _used to_. Looking back, I wouldn't blame her for having to sell them all, but then again, some should have went to Marco. He spent most of his time taking care of them, their value is determined by who owns them."

She had gone through more than half. Krista leaned against the counter. "What about Ymir? Did she value them?"

Sasha nearly dropped a can of soup on the register, it startled the blond as Sasha frantically gathered herself. She took a hold of the can then glanced outside through the glass double doors. In the thin haze she saw Ymir's truck and Ymir herself.

The woman was still waiting, she looked irritated about something all of a sudden. Sasha quickly scanned the can, placed it in the bag with the rest of the food, and went back to calculating the total amount of the purchase.

"...look, I wouldn't be truthful to you if I didn't have concerns about you- oh, that'd be one-fifty," she said, Krista handed her the cash. Sasha counted the greens. "What's your name?"

"Krista."

She gave her the change but then she stooped down to tear off a piece of paper towel.

"Alright, Krista...if anything happens up there, just call this number," Sasha told in a low voice her as she wrote on it, she then handed the paper to her. "It's mine. Ymir isn't...the best of people, surely you figured that out by now."

Krista had wide-eyes. "How did-?"

"Girl, you look like a frightened deer in the headlights, something's gotten to you; if it's anyone, it'd be Ymir. You weren't like this last night." She smiled to her but it was a sad smile. "Ymir's changed, and how she did...it's not the way I'd like her to be."

"Changed...?"

The bells rang, both looked up.

A short, young man with a blond bowl-cut to his head entered. His shirt was drenched from head to shoulders like he didn't bother to cover himself up. Sasha greeted him,"Hey, Armin, took you long enough," but he ignored her warmth and approached her. "Whoa, what the-"

"Had you seen Hannes? Did he go by here?" Armin asked hastily, he looked rather frantic, he ignored Krista.

Sasha shook her head but she was at alarm. She spoke carefully,"Not at all. Not since Monday. I heard him last night though, he was going to Ymir- why?"

"Someone found a dead body on the road to Jean's ranch," he said breathlessly, Sasha's face grew pale and her jaw dropped.

"D...do you know who?"

He shook his head and left without offering another explanation. Her mouth was hanging open, her eyes were shifting left and right. Krista stood still, watching as Sasha's face contorted with dread. Even as her eyes were trained on the door, she took a small tab from the little printer by the cash register and absently handed it to her. Krista took it with hesitation as Sasha seemed to have lost touch with the world around her.

"You...said Ymir is here with you. Right now, she's here right now?" Sasha asked in earnest.

Krista nodded slowly, she was still shocked at the goings of this place. A young man, frantic and raving about a dead body, a woman who looks like she'd seen a ghost, and then...Ymir.

"In the truck," she said. Sasha quickly gathered the bags and beckoned Krista to follow, they rushed across the lot to avoid getting wet, but the harder rain took course, nearly drenching them. Sasha had taken the most water as Krista still wore Ymir's hoodie. Upon arriving at the truck, Sasha took to putting the bags in the backseat as Krista went to the passenger's side.

Ymir was smoking, as expected, but seeing Sasha made her choke and splutter. When she cleared her throat, she spoke through the open window with a snarl,"What now?"

"Armin said...Armin said a body was found by Jean's place," Sasha managed to get out. As the rain poured over her, neither of the women could tell apart the tears or water that drenched her face. Ymir sat there, hand on the wheel; she breathed deeply and reached for the key. "W-what're you doing?"

"We're going home," Ymir said as the engine roared to life. "Just keep doing what you've been doing."

"Ymir!" Sasha cried, she grappled Ymir's collar with a wet hand.

Ymir groaned at the base of her throat. She took Sasha's hand extracted it from her collar, she switched gears and the truck slowly rolled out of the grocer's reach. For good measure she even rolled up the window.

Outside she saw the fading figure of Sasha running back into the store; the rain grew heavier. Krista sank into her chair, she hadn't taken off Ymir's jacket.

-...-

Ymir hid away in her room.

The groceries were placed accordingly.

Krista went upstairs to her own room to slip into more comfortable clothes. Water splattered against the window, the sight of running water caused a shiver to course through her spine. She closed the door and went to her luggage to pull out more clothes- she hadn't had the chance to put her possessions anywhere yet. The wardrobe was given the two coats she had for the winter, the bureau was given everything else.

At the end of organizing her things, the empty luggage was stored by the wardrobe.

The only way she told time was by an old alarm clock whose little hammer was ripped off, it wouldn't ring again but the ticking was there. Right now it was half passed two.

She sat on her bed.

In her hand was Sasha's number.

Her phone was charging at the nightstand. She wanted to talk to someone but judging by the last she had seen of the grocer, she doubted she would be available to talk. She leaned over and placed the paper underneath the alarm clock in case she needed it later on. She sprawled out on the bed on her back and absently stared up at the ceiling.

Out here, alone, she felt no one could touch her, no one from her past could get to her. If she stayed on Ymir's good side, she would earn enough money to move on; right now, it didn't matter if it were just a little coin, she just needed a place to stay.

Do as your told, get your money, leave in due time.

Leave. Leave to where? She knew that she had traveled to the end of her known world. She knew she was entering a new one. It was one that had been scrambled long before she got here.

A supposed ranch hand gone weeks ago and a body found just today? She shuddered, it wouldn't surprise her if they were the same person. Hell, Sasha and Ymir were suspicious in their own ways. Something happened between the three of them, something. For all Krista knew, she could be employed to a killer just down the hall. Thoughts like this made her rise up and stare at her door.

Ymir seemed to be the type to have violent tendencies; fuck, she yelled about the curtains. _Curtains._

Her mind went back to Sasha, the woman was nice enough to give her a number. Even more so, she was willing to give it to a total stranger. Maybe in a day or two she would call her, Ymir may be her employer but she couldn't possibly need to consent to everything Krista would do. Marco was said to have left the home on whim, she figured she'd be able do the same.

On the nightstand was Ymir's leather wallet. Throughout the ride home she had forgotten to hand it to her, the receipt was still there too. She reached over to it and counted the bills Sasha had given back to her as change, along with the receipt. The foodstuff was costly and Ymir didn't count her bills back at the store; it was tempting to take the fifty. However, thoughts fell back to Ymir throwing a fit over the curtains- if she found out she was duped of the extra cash...

No.

She decided to give it back to her now.

The door to her room was locked, she knocked on the oak firmly.

A muffled voice came out. "What?"

"Your wallet, you forgot to take it back," Krista explained.

Footsteps on the other side told her the woman must have been sitting somewhere. A small click and a big swing, the door opened and Ymir was in front of her with an unpleasant face. Ymir gazed down at her, unamused, and stretched out her hand. "Give it."

Krista handed it over accordingly. The woman shoved it into her back pocket, murmured,"Thank you," and closed the door.

She was alone in the hallway once more.

A phone rang from downstairs. The incessant ringing overpowered the rain from the outside, Ymir called out,"If you're still outside go answer it!"

Krista immediately fled, the tone was reminiscent to her mother. She found herself rushing down the dark hall just as she had done back in the basement of the last place she lived in. Nearly stumbling own the stairs, she managed to catch herself at the last step. She wheeled about for the kitchen where the phone was and pulled it out of its receiver.

"Hello?" She asked out of breath.

The person on the other end hung up.

"Hello?"

Nothing.

She placed the phone back into the receiver.

In the kitchen she was alone. May as well start cooking now. Timidly she bit her lip, she went to the rack and pulled the closest apron off the hook. Half-way through the preparation, she heard Ymir's footsteps from upstairs. In a minute's time she heard the front door creak open and slam shut, then Ymir's truck.

The woman had forgotten to buy the vodka.


	5. Chapter 5

I do not own Shingeki no Kyojin

* * *

When she awoke from a nap, she knew that Ymir had returned by the sight of empty dishes in the dining hall.

She was late.

Krista cleared up the mess and went into the kitchen. There, she found said woman standing at the sink with her back to her. With the tray in hand, she placed it on the counter and slowly approached her, she softly said,"Ymir?" but she was willing to back away at any given time.

The taller woman didn't move, she was solid with her hands pressing against the steel rim. If it were wood she would have been able to dig her nails into it, instead she scrapped against as she gripped it tighter. At times one of her legs would bend but then she would keep herself standing. She was muttering to herself incoherently with her head craning low for the sink.

"Ymir?" She asked again, she cautiously got to her side and gingerly touched the back of the hand closest to her.

The murmuring stopped; Ymir was talking to herself.

"Yeah, Ymir," she replied quietly,"yeah."

She could smell the stench of vodka coming from her.

"Are you...drunk?"

"...yeah," she muttered with a slur,"help me to my room."

Ymir's lanky arm reached out to the blonde. She hesitated to let her touch her but she did, even going as far as letting her lean against her. The height difference was drastic that if Krista lost balance, the pair would tumble to the ground. She slung Ymir's whole arm over her shoulders and proceeded to guide her out of the kitchen. Haphazardly they ventured up the stairs and ended up at her door.

Krista managed to free one hand to twist the knob, it retreated back to Ymir's arm as she let her foot nudge the door open. Light poured into her dark room but it wasn't enough to see everything, she felt Ymir suddenly lead her towards a king sized bed. From there she tore herself out of Krista's hold and flopped onto the mattress, unmoving and unconscious.

The light wasn't enough for her to see much save for a set of drawers parallel to the door. She glanced back at Ymir, she wasn't going to get up any time soon considering how comfortably spread out she was on the bed. A light groan came from her. Her attention was drawn back to the cabinet where a framed photo was on display. She went over to it, picked it up, and examined it.

Two individuals were in the photo.

Their faces were burned out as though Ymir had taken a lighter and singed away at the picture. Why she would slip the picture back into the frame was beyond her. Carefully she placed it back and silently left the room.

-...-

Every morning Krista would wake up to find the curtains drawn back. Before Ymir would come down, she made sure to close the curtains accordingly; soon enough it became natural to cover the windows and she ceased to question why they were found open. Those gold sashes, no matter where she stored them, were always used.

On the fifth morning, before the light of dawn, she found Ymir wandering about the home. She was partially clothed with only black slacks and no top. With her head popping out of her door, Krista found herself to be fixated at that strong form, that tan skin was an oddity considering how cloudy the days were and how long she stayed indoors.

Her shoulders were splayed with freckles and between her shoulder blades was a feint scar as though someone had dragged a knife down her back. She wanted to ask of her what she was doing, why there was such an ugly mark upon her perfect skin, how did she get a hold of the sashes to tie back the curtains. Before she could say her name, Ymir retreated to her room and never came out until noon.

When questioned about this upon awakening, Ymir denied doing anything of the sort and even told her to stop telling her such nonsense.

After that, they rarely spoke or interacted with one another. They only saw one another in a pass in the halls or when Ymir called for drinks- another time would be when she would catch her drunk or on the verge of passing out. Every once in a while she found Ymir emanating the foul stench of the vodka, her voice carrying out laughter or soft hums.

She held conversations with herself, at times like these Krista instinctively knew it was time to get her to bed.

"_O...send me a-_ what? _Send me a_...damn, what was it? _Send me a...O send me a_, damn, what's the dreadful word?"

"What're you trying to say, Ymir?" Krista asked her.

Ymir gave her a dumb look.

"...haha, I'm talking to someone? I thought I've been talking to Ymir all this time."

Krista rolled her eyes and led her to her room to send her to bed.

The next day would repeat. So would the evening.

In between she kept the home clean, and since Ymir rarely left her room or asked for care in that particular area Krista had no objective to work there. Meals were always served on time, laundry was taken cared for as there was a chute from Ymir's room to the wash room, and everything else was attended to. On Ymir's end, on a clear day without a hangover, she would hear gunfire from the outside.

The first time frightened her but, like the curtains and drinking, she grew accustomed to it. Thoughts of the first hours here became a distant memory, a situation she learned to avoid and never bring up. Her curiosity of Marco died away, she only grew interested in having a place to live and attending to Ymir. At times her mother would creep into her thoughts from the back of her mind, by then the boom of Ymir's guns pulled her back into reality- soon she found the cracks to be comforting.

At the end of the day she would be exhausted enough that she wouldn't awaken until the curtains were pulled back and another day began.

No calls and no knocks, it was just them and them alone.

One evening, after clearing up the dishes, Krista managed to head to bed early. Her head fell to her pillow one moment, then the next she was rising. The sound of footsteps outside her door stirred her from sleep. Groggily she rubbed her eyes and gathered a pair of pants that she tossed to the floor- who'd want to wander around in their panties? She slipped her feet in one at a time, she went for the door and gingerly opened it.

The light from the ceiling was blinding, it took her a moment to adjust to it all.

Krista kept her door open by a small crack so that she could watch without being noticed.

She saw Ymir with her back to her, she was clothed with three dozen sashes hanging from her right arm; her hair was no longer clipped and held back, the tresses licked at the nape of her neck. One by one, down the hall, the curtains were drawn back. When she was done, she proceeded to head to the study room. A minute passed and she returned to the hallway to head down the stairs.

In tow she had a piece of paper clenched under her armpit.

Krista used this time to dog her footsteps, but she peeked into the study room for a second to see that the curtains were drawn back.

Downstairs she stuck to the shadows to watch Ymir's almost ritualistic pattern of tying the knots. One length over the other, another loop here, a quick snap to tighten the bow. Repeat. The living room, the entrance, the dining, and the parlor. Krista watched her from around the corner. She expected her to go back up and withdraw to her room once more, but instead the woman went outside through the backdoor in the kitchen.

Krista had never thought of going through this door, she never saw a need to do so. Out here was where Ymir fired her gun. It was never out in the front. No, it was in the back where the woods thickened and no one would drive or wander by, thus reducing the risk of actually shooting someone by a stray bullet. A dozen trees were riddled and splintered with bullets and a wooden fence was in a worse state, Ymir had shot enough bullets to obliterate the beams.

Shells littered the ground but Ymir, barefooted, didn't mind them one bit.

She walked on, Krista witnessed her head to the forest itself. Her feet were soft and not accustomed to the pine needles and metal shells, she sprinted upstairs, took her shoes, and went out.

By the time she came outside equipped with her shoes, Ymir had vanished.

Krista stood with a foot out the door in the silent morning. Birds began to chirp as the sky above turned from a dark hue of blue to a sea of red, the sun was coming. She hesitated to go out. Would Ymir lash out at her if she saw her wandering outside? Maybe, but it was in the best interest to say she wanted to make sure she safe. Yeah, that was in reason.

She stepped out and walked into the woods. She left the door open.

The fresh air and the scent of summer filled her lungs, it was a welcome when compared to Ymir's air. Above her the birds began to sing, with it the forest slowly woke itself from sleep with a harmonious quartet. Trees above her, brush around her, she grew enchanted with it all- she glanced back at the home, it was dark but it was a place she knew she could return to.

She looked ahead once more.

A blur of white in between the trees some twenty yards away caught her eye.

"...Ymir?"

She scurried to where she though she saw her. No, the white object was a piece of folded paper stuffed snug within the trunk's crevices. She surveyed the area around her, no one but herself were there. Slowly, and gingerly, she took the paper and unfolded it.

Nothing.

She wondered if she should put it back but instead she tucked it into the pocket of her jacket. The time spent outside had lapsed enough for the sky to turn blue from its red hue. Surely by now Ymir returned to the home where she had ended her morning walk. She took the same path back, to her surprise she found that the backdoor was closed.

-...-

Her fingers played with the folds of the paper, even as she sat top her bed.

Finding this...knowing Ymir wandered around every morning...it should be enough to warrant a call. She got up to get her phone.

She pulled it out of the charger and slipped the small paper out from under the clock.

Feverishly she dialed the number on the screen.

The other end rung. She anxiously fiddled with both papers.

As she waited, she hoped that the walls were thin. She looked at the wardrobe, saw fit to use it to muffle her voice, and hid herself inside. Her body was small, there was enough room to fit another one of her if need be. When she enclosed herself within it, someone picked up on the other end and sleepily asked,"H-...hello?"

"Sasha?"

"I...who?"

"It's Krista," she said softly.

There was a ruffle in the background. She woke up Sasha. "Oh...Krista...is there something...wrong?"

"...no, not really but I saw Ymir."

Silence.

Krista tepidly went on. "She went for a walk in the woods a while ago."

"A walk? Before...this hour?"

"Yeah, a walk."

Sasha sniffled. "Where did she go?"

"I...didn't see, exactly, but it wasn't far. It looks like she does this every morning."

"Is there...any particular direction to where she went?"

"Outside from the backdoor."

"That's the shooting range."

"Yeah, but the forest."

"Right, you told me that. Did you follow her?"

"I couldn't."

A pause.

"...did you find anything?"

Through a small crack between the doors she stared at the blank paper. "Actually- hello?"

The line went dead.

"Sasha?"

Krista looked at her phone. The reception had dropped and she lost connection. She tried calling but it failed.

She was alone again.

She crawled out of the wardrobe and breathed in the fresh air. To rid herself of the stench of cigarettes she had left her window open on days where there wasn't rain. She took it in gratefully and changed her clothes after stowing away the papers in the wardrobe, the last place Ymir would look if she ever decided to. No doubt that when Ymir's habits were to go on, there would be more papers out in the forest.

There was always tomorrow. Tomorrow she will follow her closely. Curiosity was pulling her towards finding reason in Ymir.

For now, she went around the house to undo the sashes.


	6. Chapter 6

I do not own Shingeki no Kyojin

* * *

Birds scattered at the deafening crack.

Wood splintered at the sixth bullet that was embedded into the post.

She reached into the small cartridge that was propped up on top of a nearby table. Next to it was her handgun, she hadn't touched it yet but she was planning to. She popped back the chamber, turned it to its side, and reloaded it from the small box. It was a way to burn time other than staying in that room, she enjoyed the fresh air once in a while. She forced the chamber to close and she cocked the shotgun into her shoulder.

Again, she shot, this time she missed.

Again.

Miss.

"Damn," she murmured.

Ymir went off to reloading once more.

The backdoor opened and out came Krista. She had a tray of water for her. Ymir hadn't called or sent for water but she approached her and took a glass. Krista settled the tray on another table and then took to sitting atop it.

"I finished my work for today," she said.

Ymir drank half and placed it back, telling her,"So you came to watch the show?"

"What else can I do? Your television doesn't work."

Ymir paused for a moment to think, then she pointed up with a free hand. "Shot off the satellite one time, guess I'll call in someone to fix that."

She went back to the table to reload.

Once she emptied her ammunition, Krista asked her,"There's no particular target?"

"Not really. Ever fired a gun before?"

Krista slowly nodded. "Once."

Ymir placed the unloaded shotgun against the railing of the porch. She gestured for Krista to come over, she hopped off the table and walked to her, curious at the sudden calling. Ymir reached for her handgun, checked the magazine, then offered it to her. She was confident that the girl had grown used to living here, she figured that since she found a secure home and was no longer desperate for security, she wouldn't bring the gun to her head.

On her first day she was anxious but now she slipped into the lazy lull of life in her home, Ymir felt it was safe to approach her now. She knew the girl wouldn't bother her in the middle of shooting unless she either steady to speak to her or she needed something. Regardless of the two, it was a nice change in having company to do this sort of thing with.

Krista stared at the gun as though it were new to her.

"Show me what you know," Ymir encouraged her.

"Well...I only did this one time," she said.

"Doesn't matter. If you plan on living here for a long time, at least know how to use this. Everyone in this town can fire a shot, hell, even that idiot that runs the radio can fire his tiny-ass pistol."

"Alright then."

She reached for it and examined the weight of it. Ymir stood close to her as she readied her aim.

"The position is off, where the hell did you learn to shoot like _that_?"

She repositioned her arms and used her foot to tap one of her feet back- given her small stature, the gun would have a strong kick to her.

"Aim for that tree over there."

Krista stood in silence, her breathing became deep as though she were trying to calm herself. One of her fingers pulled back the safety, then the other went to rest at the trigger. Ymir gingerly held at her wrist but she could feel her starting to tremble. Before she addressed her, the girl fired a shot and earned a recoil. Ymir caught her in her arms but, much to her shock, the girl had went limp.

She fainted.

"Shit."

She allowed her to slump to the ground gently but she took the gun out of her hand first. She hit the safety, took her shotgun, and then rushed to store them back in the safe upstairs; she went downstairs and checked on her.

Krista was still laying there, unconscious. Ymir stooped low, checked her pulse and then everything else around her, there was nothing physically wrong with her. Why the hell did she pass out all of a sudden?

"You're fucking kidding me," she muttered. She didn't know what to do. For all she knew, the girl may have some illness- Ymir wasn't keen on stocking up on medical supplies in her home. Hell, at one point she used duct-tape and a piece of cloth to cover up a gash she earned on her arm when she fought with Marco a while back. The fight wasn't important, it was the fact that she lacked proper aid.

She gathered her into her arms and headed around the house for the truck.

-...-

The Maria was a bar on its own and away from the town. It was nestled between a few trees that were kept for aesthetic views, the rest of them were cleared for the parking lot and road that led back to the main street. The front faced the town while the back faced the lake and all the activities that went on. At times like these, the bar gained a considerate amount of patrons, both visitor and local.

Ymir hadn't set foot in the Maria for over a year or so.

Night had fallen when she pulled into the parking lot. She made sure to give the gray horse tied at the front a wide berth; no doubt Jean was there. She always saw him riding around town when she dropped by on rare occasions.

She went in through the single door, a plume of smoke from the patrons was a welcoming smell but the stares from each of them weren't. She made no business to say anything, they went back to what they were doing. As that shitty, country music drawled on in the background, she walked over to the bar where a plaid shirted man wearing one of those cowboy hats sat; she took a stool that were two seats away from him. He was speaking to two men beside him.

One was tall with an uncertain look, the other was of a large build with short blond hair. The one with the had took notice of Ymir and bumped shoulders with the blond guy.

"If it isn't Ymir," Reiner started.

The bartender, Pixis, approached her. Without giving him a chance to ask, she ordered,"Just a shot of vodka," and tried to ignore him,"leave the bottle."

"Still the heavy drinker, eh?" He jibbed at her.

"Uh-huh," she murmured.

Reiner huffed under his breath. "Hear the news?"

"Not really my concern."

He went on.

"Vet found a dead body off the road a couple days ago, whole town's on lock-down for it."

Ymir was handed a shot glass, Pixis poured her the drink and went off to tend to a couple at the other end of the bar. She downed and finally brought herself to face the three of them. "You know who it was?"

"It ought to be your concern, it was Marco," he told her, he patted Jean on the shoulder. "This one's been riding in here every day since the vet found him."

"He was going up there to treat Titan," Jean murmured,"poor guy stared to colic. Then...just found him on the road half-way there, half eaten, just half his face all...blown up."

"Wolves got him, maybe," Reiner added, he patted Jean more vigorously. Ymir offered Jean the vodka; without thinking the poor rancher took it and poured himself another glass. "Someone must have shot him and then left him, but Sasha says the body's too old to be recent."

Ymir immediately took the bottle back. "Sasha was there?"

"Who else knows how to know a body's age? She was even more accurate than Hanji's liver-detector thingy. Armin called her up, she was in a panic 'bout something though. You being here from a long while, bet it's not a coincidence."

She gave herself a shot but she didn't touch it just yet. She simply told him,"I was in town yesterday."

"Then you heard the news." Reiner frowned.

"Not all of it," she said,"but you filled in most of it. Where's Marco?"

"At that crazy Doctor's, he'll be having his funeral in a week or when Jean is sober enough to put it together."

"We'll burn him!" Jean blurted out.

"Like a viking?" Ymir murmured under her breath.

Reiner rested his hand on the bar. "Say, Marco worked for you for years, you had the faintest idea what happened?"

Ymir downed her shot. "Nope. He left, thought he was done with me."

It wasn't news to the locals here that he would decide to take off. From the way they looked at her, Marco may have come down here and, when given the time with booze, would bitch and moan about Ymir. They weren't on the best of terms, not since she came back.

"No surprise, huh? Just left you?"

"Yeah, up and gone. Thought he'd tell everyone else, didn't feel like I needed to report a missing person."

"Surprised no one came to you first."

"No one did."

-...-

"...ugh..."

The first thing she saw was the white outlining of a door in the darkness. Voices on the other side stirred her from sleep, she groaned again, this time a bit louder, as she sat up. Bits and pieces heard from beyond the boundary of darkness caught her ear.

"...he's still in Stohess?...perfect, have him come by soon...it's pretty bad...oh, didn't tell him yet, thought I'd run it by you first- hey, Moblit, go check on the girl."

"Yes, Doctor."

Krista didn't have time to lay down, the man was too fast to open the door; despite it being enough to peek in, he could see her directly. Light poured in from the hallway, it blinded her, forcing her to cover her eyes and murmur,"What am I doing here? Where is this?"

The so called "Moblit" entered the room and switched on a dim light. She was in a white room, only her bed and nightstand were its accessories. The young man that stood at the doorway approached her, telling her,"Ymir brought you here because you collapsed. You're in a clinic."

Her mind reeled back to that afternoon, she remembered firing Ymir's gun...then it stopped. The sound never affected her, no, it wasn't. It was the weight that got her. The coldness of the metal, the strong kick that shook her nerves, and finally, the blaring bang that made it feel like she was back there, to that basement-

"Miss Lenz?" Moblit called to her.

She was brought back to reality. "Ah..."

"Are you alright?"

"...yes, I'm fine. Where's Ymir?"

"She went to the Maria to wait, I can call her if you want."

"Please...do so," she murmured.

He didn't seem to take notice of her stress, for he left the room without asking anything else of her.

She brought her legs and folded them to rest her chin on her knee. In this position, she hugged her shin. It was silent once more, then the sound of staggered steps caught her ear, along with a voice. The phone call on the other side ended, the door opened once again, though this time it was opened completely.

A woman bearing spectacles with her ruffled, brown hair tied back limped in; in her left hand was a cane. She wore a warming smile, one that was kinder than Sasha's. Krista looked up and stared at her, she didn't seem very old to have to use a cane. From the way she leaned upon it, she figured that she had a bad leg. The lab coat she wore was enough to tell her she was the doctor.

"Krista, you're up and awake," she said. "I'm Doctor Hanji...you can call me Hanji, you can call me Doctor. Doc works fine but either way, it doesn't matter what you call me as long as it's not an insult."

She pulled sat down at the foot of the bed.

"You collapsed a few hours ago, Ymir brought you here saying she didn't know why. I checked you out, nothing wrong anywhere. Do you have a history of this? Just...collapsing?" Hanji inquired.

Krista slowly shook her head. "No, not at all."

Hanji's eyes narrowed at the slightest. "Then you just passed out. What were you doing?"

She pondered over telling her what she was doing.

"It's alright, it's just you and me in this room."

"I was...shooting a gun with Ymir, she was showing me how to do it. Is that...legal?"

Hanji gestured to the outside. "Not unless you kill someone or something out of season. It's normal to do so out here; I can smell it off of you, you're not from around here, huh?"

"No, I'm from Stohess."

"New York for me," Hanji said, smiling. "Glad to know I'm not alone in this town."

Krista chuckled and rested her chin on her knee again. "Same. I've been here for a week."

"Two years, so is my assistant." Her hand went to her knee to rub at it, she gave a soft sigh.

"Can I...ask what happened to your leg?"

"Ah, not much to say about it, car accident really. Forced me to move to a...quieter job," she sheepishly laughed. "Was it the first time you fired a gun?"

"...yeah, it was."

"Pretty gut-wrenching the first time, you get the strong kick and all..."

As she went on, Krista definitely felt her innards twist. They were convulsing and twisting, she started to feel ill to her stomach as Hanji went on with her words. She wanted to vomit at the thought of firing a firearm. Why only now, after hearing it go off many times before, that she began to have her aversion? Sweat began to form over her forehead, her heart raced.

"...-ista...Krista, something wrong?"

Krista looked directly at her. "I'm-"

"Ymir's here," Moblit announced from the door.

"Thanks," Hanji told him. She smiled to Krista once more and then used her cane to get to her feet. "Today's free of charge, Ymir's...Ymir."

"...you know about Ymir?"

Hanji scoffed as Moblit went off to fetch Krista's personal things. "Who doesn't in this town? She was a huge thing after I came here. Oddly enough though..." She trailed off as she walked out of the room as Moblit entered with Krista's clothes. "You don't have any injuries, I can release you. I'll talk to Ymir for a bit."

"Thank you, Doctor," she softly told her.

"No problem."

-...-

She walked into the middle of the conversation.

"...yeah, she's legal."

"No proof of it? No license?"

"Hadn't asked her."

Hanji's nose scrunched up. "Good lord, are you drunk?"

"No. And don't have me say the alphabet backwards- there you are."

They both looked at her. She had dressed into the same clothes she wore that afternoon. She forced out a smile and drew close. Hanji placed her hand onto her shoulder and told Ymir,"She's alright. No concussion or anything that's serious, could have been from the heat or she could have been exhausted. I'd say both."

"Yeah, uh-huh. Krista, c'mon."

She hesitated to follow but Hanji held her back. "You two need to fill out paperwork, protocol is all."

Ymir rolled her eyes and sighed,"Fine." Both were led to the front desk where they completed the documents. Ymir peeked over at Krista's information, as did Hanji, but when she lifted her head they turned away. "Here. Done."

Hanji skimmed the papers over. "Good and good, you can leave."

She didn't want to be there any longer with the doctor. She reached over for Krista and ushered her out of the clinic. Luckily she only drank the minimal for tonight, Reiner killed the mood for her; it was enough to just take the bottle home with her so it wouldn't go to waste. Before she earned the third shot, that assistant called her over.

They went into her truck and started the ride home. No sound was made save for the engine.

Krista was looking out of her window, silent.

Ymir stole several glances at her to make sure she was alright.

It was when they arrived at home that Krista suddenly broke to her with a dry voice,"I wasn't honest with you."

"Now you wanna be confident with me, huh? That's good. C'mon, let's get you to your room, you can tell me there."

Ymir watched her hop out, she then followed with the bottle at hand. It was either that the girl was gaining trust or she was starting to feel the heat of deception; the incident this morning may have pressured her to suddenly tell her story. While she was out cleaning, Ymir forayed through her things but found nothing of value to tell her anything. The girl kept her phone on her at all times.

So far, there was no indication of identification.

She truly wanted to leave herself behind.

Once they were in her room Krista was sitting on the bed.

In her pocket, Ymir pulled out a shot glass- she accidentally took it from the Maria in her hurry. She settled it on the nightstand and poured a glass for her. "Drink this."

Krista didn't move. "I'm not in to alcohol."

"It'd be rude to not take it."

"So?"

"Confessions are best when they're told drunk," Ymir noted to her.

"Loose tongues are dangerous."

"Aren't you the smart one. Well, before I go get myself shitfaced, mind telling me what you wanted to say?"

"...I only fired a gun once before in my life, I killed my mother."

Ymir stood in stunned silence. She saw her finally reach for the shot glass and down the liquid without flinching.


	7. Chapter 7

I do not own Shingeki no Kyojin

* * *

She had to collect herself.

Killed? The girl killed her mother?

That would explain a lot about her.

Ymir went to sit between her and the nightstand; she propped herself against the bed frame.

It didn't bother her to be by someone whose hands were colored in blood. The girl was trying to start a new life, she wasn't the kind to kill. No, she wasn't, the stench of death didn't cling to her like it did for herself. While she never killed anyone, Ymir could only sense another who committed the act. Krista lacked that scent.

"Was it in good reason?" Ymir asked as she poured another glass. Krista immediately reached for it but Ymir drew back. "Hold on, I want you coherent for this."

Krista's hand fell to the sheets and she leaned against the bedpost at the other end of the bed.

"It was my only option."

"Wasn't it a bit too much?"

"…it had to be done."

Ymir drank the shot for herself. "Go on, then."

"I grew up in Stohess…that city on the mainland, just half an hour away from Seattle. I never exactly went to school, I didn't have the time to do it as much as I wanted to- my mother wouldn't let me either. She wasn't a…very nice mother, not at all. I couldn't blame her. She was a prostitute but we barely had money to keep ourselves up, the best I could do was keep the place in order for her; clean everything, cook, all the stuff I do now.

"She wanted more money so when I was old enough, she wanted to market me. She set me up with this…guy, luckily he had a gun. I went along with him, served a spiked drink, and then took his gun when he passed out. I went to my mother down in the basement of our place…and, well-"

Krista made the gesture of a gun with her fingers to her forehead.

"Right between the eyes. I planted the gun in that guy's hand, cleaned myself up, and packed up what I had. I spent a few days wandering the street, then I saw your advertisement. Now I'm here, telling you."

Ymir quietly hummed as another glass was filled, this time she handed it to Krista. "Can't imagine taking another person's life, especially the one who's given you life herself."

Krista quickly finished it, snatched the bottle, and served herself another one. Once done, she allowed both of the items to plop onto the pillow by Ymir, she somewhat slurred,"Are you going to send me to the police?"

"You're here already…I don't see any harm in letting you start anew here- oh."

Krista threw herself to her. Her arms draped around her neck and she buried her face into her chest. She curled herself up and embraced her whole fully.

Ymir expected a heaping mess of sobbing but instead she received calm, deep breaths.

"You took me in and even now that you know about this, you're not making me leave…I'm grateful."

The scent of vodka intermingled with the pleasantness of honeydew and something sweet; whether it be her perfume or a natural smell, Ymir liked it. Her arms went around her waist to hold her, they fit rather well together; her weight was comforting, as if Ymir missed it for so long yet never had. She buried her nose into her hair to take in that cheap shampoo, she'd buy her better ones the next time she was in town.

How can someone so innocent have blood staining her hands?

She was real, very much real.

Her hand ran through her hair, she untangled the ends and brushed her fingers through.

It felt...right to hold her as though something that laid dormant within her stirred to life. It was like recalling a distant memory.

How did it go again?

_O send me a._..a what? _Send me a love-_

"You're...not a horrible person, or at least how Sasha puts it."

"Sasha?" Ymir quietly inquired. The girl curled up even closer to her as she comforted herself in her arms.

"Hm-hm."

"What had she said?"

"Nothing much, but if I didn't know better, I'd think she'd be trying to warn me about something. It's strange...y'know, the more I stay with you, the less I see anything wrong. It's just...you're you. If you were a bad person, you wouldn't have gotten help."

"I'm not a good person."

"Hnm..." Her head rested against Ymir's chest, she didn't move or make a sound.

She passed out.

Ymir slipped Krista off of her and laid her to the bed, she took the bottle with her, along with the glass. Krista heavy fell to the mattress and groaned, her small body and inexperience caused her to lose herself all too quickly.

She didn't take a moment to stare at her, she simply closed the door and left.

-...-

Cold water was best taken in the morning.

So relieving it was that Krista washed her face three times over. It was the pain of a hangover that jolted her from sleep. She prayed that there would be some medication in the drawers of her bathroom, luckily there was. Two white tablets and a gulp of water from the tap. She washed her face once more for good measure and staggered into her bed, groaning.

Peace and quiet. The sun was barely up, it left a red hue on the wall she faced. She closed her eyes and rested in silence until a strident crash caught her ear and forced her mind to pulsate horribly. The shock of it forced her from bed and she threw herself to her feet.

Cackling followed and rapid footsteps came.

"What the...hell?" Krista muttered.

A door slammed, the muffled ruckus went on and then...nothing.

She flung herself to the bed, afraid of sound itself.

Her incapacitation weakened her but the shock numbed her. It was them and them alone, they lived here, no one else did. It had to be Ymir making all the noise. She let the medicine take its time so that the growing sunlight would be bearable through her window. Time elapsed for a great deal, the medicine settled and mollified her from the hangover.

She finally got up and dressed herself properly for the day.

The hallway was a bright mess.

Curtains were torn off of their racks, she needed to get a ladder to set them in the poles once again. God forbid that Ymir did this throughout the entire house; much to Krista's displeasure when she went downstairs, she did.

She found a step ladder in storage. The arduous process of setting the curtains back in place took up the rest of the morning.

Once they were set back up into their proper places, she went out the backdoor and wandered around the edge of the forest. Surely Ymir went outside for her morning walk before violently returning.

A light breeze picked up and the birds were singing, trees hold their bright foliage with wet dew freshening the air. It was comforting for her to be outside, alone. It was much better than being indoors, inside, the home was almost akin to her previous life, the lacking of her mother made it bearable. Bits and pieces of yesterday came to her, but the evening after coming home was a blur.

The only vestige of it was the hangover, something that had slowly ebbed away over time.

As she wandered further, she discovered a white, blank paper wedged into a tree's trunk. It was the same as before, she pulled it loose and opened it to find nothing written upon it. She frowned at the empty finding and looked down to the ground- a small, copper key's teeth jutted out from a pile of leaves. She stooped low and picked it up, curious of it.

Where it went to was something she didn't know but she would find out sooner or later when she had the time.

She returned home to find that the clock had struck noon and that Ymir would be waking up soon.

Tucking the key into her pocket, she set to work.

-...-

A week had passed.

"Come eat with me," Ymir told her out of the blue when the meal was prepared.

Krista stood by. "With you?"

She hadn't done so since her first night there.

"Oh...alright." She left and then returned with an extra plate, she sat to the left of Ymir and helped herself to a modest serving. The feeling of Ymir watching her made her uncomfortable enough to let her not touch her food at all.

Sensing her quietness, Ymir went back to eating. Moments passed, she then spoke,"Do you have a real name?"

"I do."

"Care to tell?"

She shook her head. "I'd rather forget who I was."

Ymir paused in her movements. Krista dared to look at her directly to find that she was glaring at her in disapproval.

"That's bullshit."

"I ran away, I wanted to start anew-"

"I respect someone who leaves for a better life, not forget who they are. If you reject who you were born as, you can never hope to change yourself in the future."

There was no way to retort that, not one bit.

She sat at the table, silent. Ymir's piercing gaze made her flee like a bird taking to flight. Leaving her food untouched, she scurried away for the upstairs. Ymir could have gotten up but with her reaction, it would make it worse. She clenched at her fork and glared at the fluffy omelet- she prodded to far.

No, she fucking stabbed her.

She have to build up to the top and learn more of her. Or she can get her piss drunk, that's always a quick solution.

"Nah."

After finishing her meal, she stood up and left the table. Today was a Saturday, wasn't it? It was. Remembering correctly, the height of the town's activities and tourism would be at its pique for the week. The girl had been cooped up in the home for so long, she may as well take her to town; they had to get groceries anyway.

She went upstairs to her own room.

Flicking on the lights the dilapidated room revealed itself. Her bed, with the mattress torn at the right corner, had a muddle of blankets and a few, dark stains here and there- a couple pillows were all that made it a bit comforting. To her right was an old bureau that needed a good polishing, to her left was a desk without a chair but had numerous papers stacked upon it- all of which she never knew why they were there in the first place.

Clothes littered the floor, making her room more like a nest for an animal. A hole in the wall was there near the bathroom door for some, ungodly reason. Propped against the an already boarded up window was an extra mattress, all the more better to keep the sun out. In the far back, her safe for firearms and ammunition were properly stored away.

She wandered to the cabinet that was clear of everything except a photograph where both of the persons in it had faces burned away. It was kept in a simple frame, unlike the rest of the paintings and photographs in the home.

At times she would take this picture and stare at it in the late evenings. Looking at it was like invoking an old and distant memory that had buried itself into the recesses of her mind, blurred away by the alcohol and something dull, something hollow and painful. She knew one of the people in it was herself, both the other who stood by her was…a mystery.

It had to be a woman, no doubt. She stood at the same height as her and had a similar build, the lankiness and thinness of her arms were what broke her from Ymir's own stature. Over time, Ymir herself had noticed herself had grown thin, much thin compared to when this photo was taken- it was thanks to her lack in self-care that she had lost a considerate amount of weight. She placed the picture back onto the cabinet and went to dress herself.

Once she had gotten proper clothes on, she ventured to the end of the hallway and knocked on wood.

"We're going to town, meet me down in twenty."


	8. Chapter 8

I do not own Shingeki no Kyojin

* * *

_"...and be sure to stop by Hitch's Armament, there's a 20% sale on all hunting apparel from vests to coats. With your usual notice of commerce over, let's just kickback to some requests- oh, got a caller here. What's up, you got a song you wanna hear?"_

An agitated male responded immediately,_"No, if you play one more goddamn country song, I'm going to go up there to your tower and rip out your vocal chords to use them to string a guitar to play my own yokel tunes-"_

The call was cut with Connie nervously laughing, saying,_"Let's just put some James Aldean!"_

The radio turned off when she parked herself. "God, I can't stand his voice," Ymir murmured out loud. She pulled the key out and got out into the beating sun. Krista followed suit. "Didn't mean to be rough on you earlier."

She didn't answer as she rounded the front of the pick-up.

"But...uh, we're here for more than the market. You told me earlier you wanted to study literature, right?" Ymir fumbled for her wallet in her back pocket. "You're free to buy whatever over there in that bookstore- um, don't tell the owner you know me, alright?"

After the struggle, she handed the leather to her.

"I'm the worst at apologies, so go take time for yourself. I'll be at the grocery, got something to do there myself."

Without another utterance, Ymir walked away, leaving the girl alone. Krista quietly counted the cash in her head and then pocketed the wallet. Throughout the ride into town, she expected Ymir to corner her and banter about her choice of abandoning her name, thankfully it was silent between them. With a heavy sigh, she looked left and right before crossing the road.

Townspeople were going about their business, residents and tourists enjoyed the day- it had a natural feel to it but she felt that she was the outcast. She knew no one. She didn't know the heavily built, blond man that was accompanying a taller one who looked like he was sweating an ocean from his forehead. She didn't know the man who was riding by atop a gray horse. She didn't know the blond, short woman who was loading a box of whatever she had into her car.

No one.

She crossed the street to the bookstore Ymir indicated. It was in another plaza between a barber's shop and an empty store with a 'For Rent' sign at the window. The bookstore itself looked newer than the other buildings, just below the simple wooden sign saying 'Oceanside Bookstore and Print, Est. 1890' was a Grand Reopening banner. She stared up at it for a moment.

"Reopening...?"

"Krista!"

That was Hanji. Such a call made her leap out of her skin.

The doctor had a companion with her, he was perhaps a foot shorter than her and an inch taller than Krista herself. He wore a rather formal attire but it was subtle enough to be deemed appropriate for the weather, his unpleasant look made Krista shirk at the sight of him. Where had she seen that look before?

Hanji, however, seemed oblivious to the thug-like glare from the man as they approached. Her limping gait increased tenfold until she stopped right in front of her. "Sorry to scare you there. Ymir's treating you well?"

"I, well, yeah, she is," she softly said, she was hesitant to say so but she did,"she took me here to...I don't really know."

"Ah, maybe for a bit of sightseeing. It's the first time I've seen your lovely face out here- I'm going to be out and about for a while, giving this sour guy a tour of the place. Came in from the Stohess to visit me, very thoughtful of him-"

The man rolled his eyes and threatened,"Hanji, if you keep introducing me to people like this, I swear I'll break your other leg."

Krista paused. This was the same voice from the radio that called Connie. "...oh."

"Anyway!" Hanji said while clearing her throat. "We're going into this store, come in with us, will you?"

She nodded and followed. Out of concern for her, she opened the door and let them in first. The little bell above the door rang and a cheery voice equal to their chimes sang out,"Good afternoon and welcome to the reopening of this store!"

Coming out from a backroom was the same young man who burst into Sasha's store a weeks ago. What was his name? Armie...Arm...

"Armin, you got the place up and running again!" Hanji exclaimed. "Love the renovation you got here!"

"Thanks, Doc," he said with a smile,"all the extra money went to getting the entire area remodeled, even managed to buy the shop next door but I'm renting it out to anyone."

As they chattered away, Krista found herself observing the short man that stared half-interested at a sappy romance novel on display. With a soft hand, he picked it up and rifled through it, then placed it down to stare at it for a while longer. His gaze went elsewhere and he wandered away. Compelled to follow, she did- they went to the shelves at the right end of the store.

While she maintained her distance, he suddenly spoke out,"You aren't interested in the books here?"

"Are you?" She asked in turn.

"Very much so, actually. That's why Hanji took me here."

His cold silver eyes were what struck her. That look. She'd seen it before. Ymir had the same expression; the only difference was that he looked tired. Without Hanji to barge in on them, she was able to focus on him. She heard the doctor and the bookkeeper converse happily but the amount of shelves between them and Krista muffled their voices just a bit.

"Has she...always been like that?"

"Like?" He questioned her as he reached for a book to examine.

"Spirited." Krista tried to preoccupy herself, she picked up a random book and skimmed the back for a summary.

"Tch, always." He glanced at her. "That book you're holding, it's an interesting one."

She took it upon herself to read the title. "The Return of the Native, Thomas Hardy."

"_O deliver my heart from this fearful gloom and loneliness; send me a great love from somewhere, else I shall die_," he quoted.

"Whoever said that sounded desperate."

"And she was."

"I think...I'll take it if you say it's good."

"I never said good, only interesting."

Krista hugged the book to her chest as he went back to browsing through the books again. He reached with his left hand, she took notice of the silver band around his ring finger- he was married. Curiosity got the best of her as she wondered why a married man, clearly the same age as the doctor, would be visiting. "Do you...have a wife?"

"That's rather invasive."

"I couldn't help but notice."

He paused in the midst of taking the text out, he withdrew his hand. He finally answered her,"I don't."

"Then why wear a ring?"

"Hnm...she died in a car accident, Hanji was driving at the time."

She never thought of that.

"Oh..."

The two were most likely close friends. A cackle from said woman caught their ears, the man murmured something to himself and then spoke aloud to Krista,"I think she's had enough fun." He glanced at his new book and placed it back. "All of these I've already read, she lied about this place carrying new things."

He went by her without saying anything else. With her attention to him, she followed once more and finally listened to the conversation between the owner and Hanji.

"...good thing Ymir payed me in the end. Saved me the trouble from going to court, besides...I can't really bring myself to sue her anyway," Armin concluded, he was back to standing behind the counter.

"She doesn't seem to like being entangled with the law, you had all the right to charge her."

"At least it was more than what I would be aiming for anyway," he sighed with a shrug. He shook his head. "What still gets me is how she managed to run that truck into this place."

"Uh-huh, oh, Levi. You found something you like?"

Levi scoffed. "Hardly."

Hanji patted him on the shoulder. "Your tastes are rare to find. Oh well, we'll be going now. Ah, Krista, do you know where Ymir is?"

"She's at Sasha's," she said, remembering correctly. Hanji gave her a pat on the head, bid her farewell, then left with her friend. When the bells chimed and the door closed, she felt the pleasant mood drop to something unwelcoming as she handed the book to Armin. "I want to buy this one."

The young man behind the counter scanned the binary code as he told her,"I never seen your face here before-"

"You have, back at Sasha's market when they found Marco."

He paused, then stared at her. His eyes lit up in shock as he recalled that memory. "Oh, right. I think I remember you now. So you've been here since then?" She nodded. "What do you do here for work?"

"I-(_ 'um, don't tell the owner you know me'_ )-work as a servant, or maid, something like that."

"Let me guess, you're working for Ymir. By the way, it's $14."

He already knew. She gave him the cash and he handed her back the book.

He was charming earlier, but perhaps knowing that Ymir was in the area was enough to upset him. She did damage to his property after all.

"...how did you know?"

"She came in weeks ago after Marco disappeared. This is a print shop too after all, she printed out fifty copies of an advertisement for working at her home. Thought it weird back then since Marco was working for her, but now it makes sense," Armin explained, his face sour with what seemed to be disdain. "It's almost like she was counting on him to stay gone forever, now he's turned up."

Krista took her book and allowed his next words to sink in.

"I have reason to say she killed him."

She had reason as well, she suspected such but suppressed it as long as she could until Armin, a complete stranger, told her of his thoughts on the matter. "What makes you say that?"

"Marco worked for her."

"And that's your basis?"

He nodded. "They were hardly on good terms. Knowing Ymir, it's not a hard equation to solve. He's been shot, I know for a fact that he wasn't suicidal." Armin lowered his voice. "If I were you...I'd leave that place as soon as you can."

Krista stepped back a foot. His burning gaze cooled and, within those blue depths, she saw him pleading for her to take up his advice. Where would she go if she left? She was at the end of her known world, already she established herself. She felt torn.

"Miss-"

She rushed for the door with the book tucked into her chest.

-...-

"Please tell me there's something worth my time for coming up here."

Hanji clicked her tongue. "This place isn't that bad. Only here for five seconds and you bitch about everything."

Levi adjusted his collar to give his neck some air to breathe in the summer heat. "I rather liked my retirement."

"You're too young for that."

"So are you."

She sighed as they drew close to Dauper Market. "Hn, this is just a _favor_."

Upon arriving there, they stopped a few ways by the door. They weren't going in.

"One favor, Hanji, just one. After this...don't come calling for me again."

She saw him rustle around his pockets to fetch out a cigarette when they stopped at the shade of an overhanging cover from the market's building. Biting the butt, he lit the other end and smoked, he offered her one but she declined. She leaned her back against the wall and twirled her cane in front of her.

"You want to cut everyone out, don't you?"

"You two settled all the way in this dump, it's not any different," he argued.

"At least I make sure Erwin's still alive."

"Yeah, he tells me about the daily calls."

"...and I make sure you're alive too," she said after a pause. He didn't move. To prove herself, she told him,"Last thing he said was that you're still on the Langnar case even though we closed it. How long's it been? Two years?"

He shrugged. "Just about. Something to occupy me on my free time, I guess."

"Then you aren't really retired if you're on the case." She softly laughed. "Here we are...snooping about the town just like before. Normally right about now while we wait for the guy, Petra'd...I mean-" She stumbled over her words. "-we'd be having coffee. Kinda weird, y'know, reminiscing over this-"

"Hanji," he suddenly addressed her, he was sharp and firm, his tone was enough to get her to stop. She ceased twirling her cane. "Don't give me another reason to get on the ferry and leave. Why am I here? It's more than a body turning up, isn't there?"

"Well, now there is; before it was about Marco but curiosity got the best of me. I had Erwin send me the files about that case you're working on, they came in just before you so I went over them-oh, perfect, she's coming out."

They became silent as a figure approached the door. The tiny bells rang and a lanky figure stepped out; she reached for her back pockets to pockets to take a cigarette but she couldn't find a lighter. She looked around a bit and spotted Hanji and then Levi.

Her glare rivaled that against Levi's, she had the gall to ask him,"Got a light?"

"...sure," he complied, he reached out with his own lighter and lit her cigarette.

She was thankful and told Hanji,"Didn't know you're into short things...he's not bad."

Hanji stifled down a chuckle and bit her lip as Ymir went over to the bookstore. Before she could enter, she was met by Krista and the two spoke to themselves; their conversation was too far for them to hear. Levi suddenly walked away, it took Hanji a moment to realize he was leaving her; she limped over to him. "Hey, where're you off to?"

"I want to know as much as I can about her," he told her, they were heading for her clinic.

She grinned. "She's a spitting image, isn't she? Don't worry, got a nice folder ready for you, figured that you'd wanna know everything now that you've seen her."


	9. Chapter 9

I do not own Shingeki no Kyojin

A/N: Sorry for the lateness, I've been having writer's block

* * *

"What is it?"

"Uh, nothing."

"You look like you'd seen a ghost."

Krista shook her head. "I'm alright."

Ymir stared at her; the girl was pale and her eyes screamed some sort of fright. She wouldn't tell her anything so she let her pass by, they went to the truck to place the book away. "Go get the groceries then," she muttered, Krista nodded and immediately rushed for the store.

Once inside, she found Sasha sitting at the counter and fidgeting about in her stool. Quietly, she welcomed her to the market but said nothing more. Krista stopped in front of her at the register and waited for her to speak once more. Sasha looked up from the small keys of the machine and met her eyes. "...yes?"

"I just spoke with Armin."

"He's sore about Ymir crashing that old truck into his store, I know."

"Not about that. About Marco."

She lit up with dread and hopped off of her chair. "Marco...what about him?"

"He said, um...he said Ymir killed him, that's what he thought."

"He's right," Sasha suddenly blurted out.

Krista froze. "You knew then."

"Don't get me wrong. I saw her do it, didn't mean she done it."

"...what?"

She gestured for her to follow.

They went through an aisle to arrive at the meat section. From there, she led her behind the glass counter where her father was busy quartering some animal for the store. He didn't look up from his work as he cleaved away, sending blood for the window and sliding the chopped piece into a bucket. Beyond him was a door that was opened to air out the store.

Upon entering the back, Sasha's truck and another were parked in the alleyway between the market and the other building. Once there, she closed the door.

Sasha looked around as though she were paranoid. After confirming that the area was clear, she turned to Krista. "Ymir killed Marco, I was there with her but...I'm not sure if I did it myself too."

Krista felt herself grow cold as she repeated the last part,"It was both of you."

"I'm...not sure myself. I...it was night time when I got there, she told me that there were wolves coming in to her property, or at least that's what she _told_ me. She told me to start tracking so I did, but something wasn't right about her," she confessed with a shudder. "...we went out a mile and then she opened fire into the darkness, she didn't have a flashlight, there was only the moon. By the time I looked in her direction, I started shooting too. When our target fell, we came up to it...it was Marco."

"Then it was an accident," Krista surmised.

"I-it can't be! She told me she sent Marco out alone, then when he didn't come back she called me up, I didn't know this until she told me after."

Sasha leaned against the wall and sank to the floor with her hands in her hair.

"We...took the body far, made sure he'd be tucked away but I guess it wasn't enough."

"Why are you confessing this to me?"

"It's the same reason why I can't confess to Hannes. When Marco came back to this town, I got to him before Hanji." She reached into her pocket and took out a series of small bullets. "I took these from his body. These are bullets to a shotgun, both of us were carrying those particular guns that time. I...need a favor from you."

She offered them to Krista, she took them and examined each. They were cleaned out but then it dawned on her that they were embedded in a man's flesh. She tried not to drop them no matter how much she wanted to. A favor? How could she? Sasha seemed innocent enough to be accused of murder whereas Ymir...Ymir was meant to be held responsible.

"What is it?"

"Guns can be traced back through the use of bullets. When you come back home, fetch Ymir's shotgun and some ammunition, have them brought to me. Do you know Mikasa?"

"Who?"

Sasha paused for a moment, then returned to speaking,"She's this Asian-looking girl that has a red scarf. She'll be camping by in that area with her brother Eren since he's hunting up there. She'll actually be waiting for you, they drive a silver truck."

"Then after I get you your things...what are you to do?"

"I'll see if anything matches, see if I can be linked to it. After that, I'll...confess for Ymir, then do some justice for Marco. Today's on the house, take what you need from my store and just go back," Sasha murmured. She didn't speak or move, only stayed there and stared out to the opposite end of the alleyway.

Krista wanted to say something but she couldn't bring herself to say anything. With the bullets in her fist, she pocketed them and left for the store. She wasn't a stranger to taking Sasha's wares without guilt, she stuffed the bags full and went out to the store.

Ymir spotted her and went into the truck while flicking away her cigarette.

Krista resorted to gazing out the window, nothing was said between them.

-...-

"I got you something while you were in town," Ymir finally told her an hour or so after they were back home.

Krista was putting away the groceries in the kitchen, she nearly dropped the carton of eggs at the sound of Ymir's voice. She recollected herself as she brought herself to say,"That's too nice of you."

"Well, I ought to make sure you're content her. Cable guy isn't coming for another week so you ought to occupy yourself with something. C'mon."

Luckily the last of the foodstuff were put away, thereby giving Krista a few moments to have a break. She was taken upstairs to the study room where Ymir was standing at the main desk, waiting for her.

On the polished oak desk was a typewriter. Black and shinny from fresh oiling, the keys were of ivory with silver typebars. A stack of fresh paper sat next to it with several bottles of ink and a sponge of sorts. Beside those things was the book she bought from Armin.

"I can't afford to send you to a school to learn to write...and I think it's better to learn a skill by experience." She offered the typewriter to her. "Enjoy it."

Krista steadily nodded with a forced smile. She could feel the bullets at her pelvis, her mind was set on Sasha's words. "Thank you...you're giving too much to me."

"And you're being too modest," she scoffed. She left her, smirking with some satisfaction. "I'll be shooting today."

Krista couldn't help but stare at the typewriter under the florescent lamp. Hesitantly she took her seat behind the desk. The only sound that accompanied her was the incessant tick-tock from the grandfather clock. As if she had lost track of time, the sound of gunshots took her back to reality.

Immediately she stood up and rushed for Ymir's room.

The door was left open, the light was on as well.

Like being in the lion's den, she braved it and searched for anything that would give her clues as to where the firearms were kept. Much to her luck, the safe was kept here and, if fortune couldn't stop being bountiful, the door was open.

Inside she found that her luck had run out. There were at least a dozen firearms, half of them were shotguns. She wasn't able to tell which of them Sasha wanted. There were at least three different types of ammunition as well, she wasn't an expert at distinguishing any of them apart.

She looked further in the safe and suddenly found a key that hung by a stray strap. It hung by a chain on a hook, something about it drew her to take it. She wore it around her neck and tucked it under her shirt, surely something so small wouldn't be missed by her.

As she went down the stairs the gunshots grew louder.

She was getting too deep into this. The being of Marco was like a myth, an entity everyone spoke of and yet never seen. He was mentioned so many times that by now, she felt she should know him. Perhaps that was what it was like to be dead, to be known by all without being present- a memory. There wasn't fame or infamy, only the solemn whispers or distraught faces that come after his mentioning.

Her hands began to shake in balled fists.

She resolved one problem in her life and now found herself hurled into another one. Without a doubt, Ymir would bring more to her sooner or later. In the worst case scenario, she would end up like Marco.

With the money spared from groceries, she could leave right now to catch the ferry.

Now! She could leave. She should leave.

She rushed up the stairs and into her room. Her clothes were already packed into the wardrobes and drawers, she threw herself around the room to gather what she could- she tossed what she had onto the bed, then searched for her suitcase. She found it tucked under the sink, she took it and packed all that she owned into it.

Her phone. She should leave that, she didn't want to be reached by anyone in this life.

Everything was packed away. The gunshots continued, it was like being back in that basement where her mother-

One moment she was in her room, the next she was on the road, taking the dirt path for the main road. No matter how far she ran, she could still hear the shots. The weight of her suitcase weighed her down but she pushed on, eyes trained for the thickening wood.

The sun broke through the opening in the canopy. Every ray bathed her in full, it was warming to be under it yet part of her yearned for the coldness of the dark back at the house. With every fire that grew more muffled in the trees, she was spurned to go further.

-...-

Her trek cost her more than what she thought she could exert.

Thirst had taken over.

She decided to take a rest behind a tree to face away from the path. Another mile and she would be at the main road. Her legs have given away, she couldn't go on for the moment. Swallowing the dryness of her mouth, she found that her hand was sore from holding the handle and her arm was strained for carrying her life. She wished she brought water.

She could still hear Ymir firing the gun but it was so distant that she felt that she could no longer be touched.

Her eyes grew heavy, her thoughts drifted in and out of consciousness. The heat blurred her reality to a point of when she heard voices, she thought they were concoctions from her mind.

They faded away into silence.

Something cold grazed her cheek, she made out that it was metal.

On further inspection, she found it to be the barrel of a rifle. Alarms rose but the weight of the heat kept her down. With her cheek, she weakly nudged it away and looked up at the owner.

A young man with vicious, vibrant eyes that glazed her own; he wore a shirt and one of those military jeans that held his ammunition. Around his shoulder was a strap and at his hip was a canteen. He knelt down beside her and held her chin in one gnarled finger; tilting her head left and right, he examined her gentleness. He gave a small, approving nod and deemed her safe.

He took out a handkerchief and wiped her brow.

"Can you walk?" He asked her.

"...water," was all she could mutter.

He handed her the canteen. His gaze softened as he helped her drink. "Easy, girl."

A sharp whistle pierced the air.

In turn, he looked away from Krista and whistled back.

Krista had her fill and shook the lip of the bottle away.

"You're lucky I found you, else those wolves would have gotten you," he said, relieved.

She didn't reply.

"You know Sasha, right?"

A nod. It fell into her mind that this was the mentioned Eren.

"Said you'll be out here in a few days, didn't know you'd be doing it quickly. Where's the gun?" He peeked around her.

Her voice returned, she managed to rasp,"I...couldn't find it. There's too many."

Eren sighed deeply and ran a hand through his hair, ruffling it. "Damn."

Rhythmic footfalls from around the tree came close. Eventually, a woman came around; she had the red scarf wrapped around her neck.

"Eren, you found her?"

"Yeah, but she doesn't have the gun," Eren told her as he got up.

Mikasa took a quick glance at her. They stepped away for a moment to speak in hushed whispers. Every so often they looked at her and then back at each other. Krista attempted to stand, at this Mikasa faced her, telling her,"You're exhausted, don't get up."

"I'll take her to the truck," Eren volunteered. "Check out the area a bit, then get her things. Meet me back in twenty."

She immediately walked away. He knelt by Krista, slung his rifle behind his back, then wrapped his arms around her to pick her up. Cradling her, he effortlessly walked in the heat for the main road.

"I'm...sorry," she murmured.

"Hm?"

"...but I don't want to be a part of this," she finished.

"So you think it best to just leave?"

"Yeah, leave."

"You spoke to Armin, didn't you? He told you to leave that place, right?"

Krista nodded.

"My sister and I...if you do what we need you to, we'll open our doors for you-"

"I mean to leave Deliverance altogether."

-...-

"Doctor!" The frantic yelling from the hallway bombarded them as they entered the clinic. Hanji squinted, the noise was deafening; the smile she had faded away.

Moblit suddenly burst forth from the double doors, his body shaking.

Before she could speak, he blurted out,"It's gone! I went out for a break but when I came back, it was gone! Gone!"

Hanji's jaw dropped, her mouth hung open in shock but she immediately took to hobbling her fastest, following Moblit closely as Levi stuck to her side. She murmured,"Who the hell would...? How did this even...? This is bullshit..."

"What's gone, Hanji?" Levi asked her.

"The cadaver we have, Marco Bott!" Moblit exclaimed when they reached the dedicated room. The door was left open, it gave the three of them a full view of the lab that was void of a body to examine. Where the table that had the body was, there was none. The white blanket that was covering the cadaver was left on the ground as though it was no longer needed.

Levi scrutinized the room. "How long were you gone?"

"Half an hour," Moblit answered immediately.

"You two weren't careless before," he commented. He touched the door frame. "Nothing's broken to suggest someone...broke in."

"The doors unlock from the inside, and only two of us have access to be here," Hanji explained, she knelt down to pick up the blanket. "Moblit, get Hannes."

"Yes, Doctor."

Levi was by the examination table. "Who knows, maybe it got up and walked away."

"...that's the last thing I'd want," she groaned.

"I was being sarcastic."

"And I was being serious."

Levi turned to her, he was almost convinced that it was a possibility. Much to his dread and disbelief, she was staring back at him with that look that he could never argue against.


End file.
